Information

• Bruce Dearden, Professor of Mathematics
• Office: Witmer 332
• Phone: 7-4604
• Office Hours:
  MTRF 9:00-9:50am;
  and by Appointment

Fall 2009 Courses

• Math 165H: Honors Calculus I
• Math 431: Advanced Calculus I

• Examiner.com (www.examiner.com) - Somer Thompson's murder: A real-life 'Numb3rs' case?
  (Nov 5, 2009) -
  Could Dr. Kim Rossmo's ground-breaking geographic profiles be instrumental in locating Somer Thompson's killer? The pilot episode of hit TV show,"Numb3rs" was based on Rossmo's accomplishments. A former Canadian constable who gumshoed around Vancouver's high-crime, "downtown eastside" by night, while acquring a forensics-related mathematics Ph.D by day, Rossmo has consulted in high-profile cases, including the Zodiac and DC Sniper serial murders.


• The Daily Northwestern (www.dailynorthwestern.com) - Applied mathematics expert shows how math can be applied to epidemic outbreaks
  (Nov 3, 2009) -
  ... at a presentation Monday called “Improving Prediction of Random Epidemic Outbreaks” at the Technological Institute, Dr. Eric Forgoston discussed how applied mathematics can track the spread of an epidemic.


• Finance & Markets Monitor (www.rgemonitor.com) - RE: Wall Street Journal: The Cruel Basic Mathematics of Losses
  (Nov 2, 2009) -
  An odd article in the today’s WSJ laments The Cruel Math of Big Losses.
  
  What a terrible misonomer: This article should have been called “The Basic Mathematics of the Stock Market.”
  Not understanding the simple percentages of losses and gains is a goodly part of the reason so many investors buy into the myth of Buy & Hold.
  Also see Atlanta Journal Constitution: A math lesson for your 401(k)


• New York Times - Martin Gardner: For Decades, Puzzling People With Mathematics
  (Oct 19, 2009) -
  [Martin Gardner's 95th birthday was October 21, 2009.]
  “Many have tried to emulate him; no one has succeeded,” says Ronald Graham, a mathematician at the University of California, San Diego. “Martin has turned thousands of children into mathematicians, and thousands of mathematicians into children.”


• Sydney Morning Herald (smh.com.au) - Give Dylan Nobel Prize - for maths
  (Oct 19, 2009) - Give Bob the Nobel Prize for Mathematics - and not for his aspirations, his desire to one day solve The Riemann Hypothesis, which would enable us to predict the occurrence of prime numbers (you know, the ones that can't be divided, except by 1 and themselves). No, give Bob the prize because of his mathematical theory of music.


• stevespangler.com - Balloon Boy Helium Physics
  (Oct 17, 2009) - How Much Helium Would It Take to Lift Falcon?


• Examiner.com - Mathematics and spirituality
  (Feb 26, 2009) - Most people today see mathematics as being the furthest thing away from spirituality, but this has not always been the case. In the past mathematics was intimately linked with spirituality and mysticism.


• Science News - Mathematician answers Supreme Court plea
  (Feb 25, 2009) - New, fair method for dividing states into congressional districts could reduce political squabbles.


• AAP The Mathematics of Sex and Courtship
  (Jan 28, 2009) - How many mathematicians does it take to explain why you shouldn't sleep with a man on your first date?


• Science News: Brain reorganizes to make room for math
  (Nov 24, 2008) ---Between childhood and adulthood, neural map of the brain rearranges to conceptualize arithmetic. It takes years for children to master the ins and outs of arithmetic. New research indicates that this learning process triggers a large-scale reorganization of brain processes involved in understanding written symbols for various quantities.


• Edmonton Journal (Canada) -- WHY PLUS/MINUS IS A ROTTEN, USELESS, MISLEADING AND IRRELEVANT STAT FOR NHL PLAYERS
  (Nov 21, 2008) -- The NHL's official plus/minus stat is one of the most discussed individual stats in hockey, but it's also one of the most flawed, misleading and misunderstood.


• Telegraph (UK) -- View From The Lab: The mathematics behind US election
  (Nov 4, 2008) -- Whatever the outcome of the US election, it certainly won’t be fair, says Steve Jones.


• Science News: Mathematician Cracks Mystery Beatles Chord
  ScienceDaily (Oct 31, 2008) -- It’s the most famous chord in rock 'n' roll, an instantly recognizable twang rolling through the open strings on George Harrison’s 12-string Rickenbacker. It evokes a Pavlovian response from music fans as they sing along to the refrain that follows: It’s been a hard day’s night And I’ve been working like a dog


• Science News: Rating the rankings
  (Oct 3, 2008) -- The U.S. News &World Report rankings of colleges and universities are largely arbitrary, according to a new mathematical analysis.


• AFP- Innate 'number sense' boosts math skills: study.
  (Sep 7, 2008) -- PARIS (AFP) — Humans have an inborn, intuitive grasp of numbers that varies sharply from one person to the next and is closely linked to advanced math skills, according to a study released Sunday.
  Also see Washington Post story


• Business Week: Book Excerpt: The The Numerati by Stephen Baker
  (Aug 28, 2008) -- By building mathematical models of its own employees, IBM aims to improve productivity and automate management


• NPR.org - Math Problem: Democratic Conventions Logistics
  (Aug 27, 2008) -- A math class at the University of Colorado examined some of the issues facing organizers of the Democratic National Convention. The students came up with several variables that appear to have been incorporated into the quantitative and qualitative distribution of thousands of volunteers.