Math/Maths Podcast - 1 year and 50 episodes later

Samuel Hansen and I have been doing the Math/Maths Podcast (#MathMaths to those on Twitter) for almost a year. In fact, our 50th episode next weekend will coincide with the one year anniversary of our first recording.

To celebrate, we plan to stream the podcast recording live as we record it. We will record at 4pm British Summer Time, that's 8am Pacific or 11am Eastern Time, on Saturday 4th June 2011. We have some technical bits to sort out (we can definitely do audio and we may be able to do video too) but check back here on this blog for details of where to join in. We'll be looking for your input on the day!

UPDATE: We did a technical test and it all seems to work. The link on the day will be the Math/Maths Podcast channel on ustream.

Too old for such silly toys

Recently I had a birthday. My family kindly bought me a set of mathematical presents, including a Tippe Top, a Rattleback and a Gaussian gun. I show these and my other presents in action (the mathematical ones, at least) in the following video.

HE Mathematics HE Curriculum Summit in THE

There is an article on the website of Times Higher Education (THE) 'Maths teaching seeks the formula for good graduates', which is about the report of the HE Mathematics Curriculum Summit, which I edited. I recording some thoughts about this hours before the deadline for the related funding call as episode 8 of the Maths HE Curriculum Innovation Project Podcast and wrote them as a blog post on my work blog.

Smart Phone Apps for University Mathematics

You may remember I work on curriculum innovation as part of the Mathematical Sciences Strand of the National HE STEM Programme. Hazel Kendrick, who works on outreach, has been collecting a list of smart phone and tablet apps for mathematics undergraduates and lecturers. Her original request to the Maths-Prom mailing list said:

We are interested in compiling a list of free or low cost apps for smart phones which undergraduate maths students are currently using to help them in their studies or lecturers are using in their teaching.

Here are the suggestions Hazel has received so far (in no particular order), with a note about the app, the price and where to get it. These suggestions are from users of the Maths-Prom mailing list. Please contribute your suggestions in the comments!

1. Mathscard
   A-level maths formulae from Loughborough University
   FREE
   www.mathscard.co.uk/apps/
2. List of maths apps for the ipad at Mike Croucher’s blog Walking randomly
   Mike is also developing a list of Android maths apps in the near future
   www.walkingrandomly.com/?p=2692
   www.walkingrandomly.com/?p=2947
   www.walkingrandomly.com/?p=3512
   
3. Wolfram Alpha
   Wolfram Alpha introduces a new way to get knowledge and answers—not by searching the web, but by doing dynamic computations based on a vast collection of built-in data, algorithms, and methods. Type in a question and it will attempt to provide an answer.
   £1.19
   http://products.wolframalpha.com/iphone/
4. Apollonius
   Apollonius is the first (and so far the only) Interactive Geometry Software (IGS) for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It allows you to make geometric constructions (such as those made using a compass and straightedge/ruler) and move their parts smoothly using the device's touchscreen.
   £2.39
   Available at the Apple App Store
5. Appcyclon
   Graphic Calculator (there are many other alternatives).
   £1.19
   Available at the Apple App Store
6. iMathematics
   A maths reference guide with formulae and theorems.
   FREE
   Available at the Apple App Store
7. Differential Calculus Study Guide
   A reference Guide
   59p
   Available at the Apple App Store
8. iMatrixLab
   Calculates with Matrices
   59p
   Available at the Apple App Store
9. Learn Statistics
   Statistical Tool - includes dynamic graphs etc
   £2.39
   Available at the Apple App Store
10. Math Ref
    A maths reference guide (free for lite version)
    59p
    Available at the Apple App Store
11. Fractal Apps
    There are lots of fractal Apps around, many of which are free.
    Various prices
    Available at both the Apple App Store and as an Android Market App
12. A+ timetable
    Useful for students to put their timetable into
    FREE
    Available as an Android Market App
13. ES file explorer
    Students can keep all their notes and coursework online and view them like a PC.
    FREE
    Available as an Android Market App
14. Apps for changing handwriting to text –e.g. the WritePad App
    Useful for taking notes.
    £2.39 for WritePad App
    Available at the Apple App Store
15. Astronomy Course Assistant
    Interactive reference and computational tool for students studying introductory astronomy. The app can reference information on constellations, planets, and other astronomical objects.
    £2.99
    http://products.wolframalpha.com/courseassistants/astronomy.html

Please contribute your additional suggestions in the comments!

Maths of AV: a reading list

On the recent Math/Maths Podcast, among other things, we discussed the upcoming referendum on the UK voting system. Since then, I've become aware of a few more articles and blog posts that may be of interest. The referendum asks for a "Yes" to change the method of running the election of MPs to Westminster to the Alternative Vote (AV) system, or "No" to keep the existing "First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system. The BBC have a Q&A that covers the basics. The referendum is this Thursday, 5th May. If you are undecided, or interested in the issues, here is a reading list. I am focusing on those articles which deal with the topic from a mathematical point of view. (Alright, a few of them are more 'economics', but we all enjoy a bit of subject-line-blurring, don't we?) There is much writing purely on the politics of the debate, but you can find that elsewhere (although be warned: the campaign has been called "a new low in the quality of British political argument").

A piece by Jacob Aron in the New Scientist, 'Mathematicians weigh in on UK voting debate', looks at, and provides some commentary over, two blog posts: 'Two cheers for AV' by economist Dennis Leech and 'Is AV better than FPTP?' by mathematician Tim Gowers. Both look at some misconceptions of the whole debate and, while giving a fairly impassioned and to some extent balanced look, both are nevertheless pro-AV. In particular, Gowers' list of claims made by the "No" campaign is well worth a read.

A typically mathematician approach is to reach for proven results and several articles highlight theorems in voting theory, most notably Arrow's theorem, which gives conditions in which no voting system can produce a fair result. David Broomhead, writing in the Guardian under the heading 'A formula for fair voting' and sub-heading "The AV debate so far has been riddled with false assertions. Here's the mathematics to prove it", touches on Arrow's work and also explains the Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem, on tactical voting. Tony Crilly goes into Arrow's work in some depth in Plus under the title 'Which voting system is best?' and also gives an entertaining voting scenario in which twenty people are voting to elect one of three candidates and, depending how votes are counted, any of the three candidates can win.

This morning, Tony Crilly has a piece in the Independent, 'The maths of AV: A small step towards a fairer vote', in which he explains a few quirks of the two systems and gives a little history.

Tim Harford wrote on Twitter today to highlight two blog posts he wrote: 'Vital, yet unrepresentative. That’s democracy for you' in the run up to the 2010 General Election, on the proportion of the vote needed by each party to win a majority and, yes, Arrow's theorem; and, 'Why small parties can punch above their weight' on the morning after that election, about the game theory of forming coalitions.

There is also some interest in the claim by the "No" campaign that AV is too complicated for people to understand. This is covered by Gowers in his piece and also by Johann Hari in his pro-AV piece: 'If you get the X-Factor, you can get AV', which contains provocative talk about "a campaign that thinks you are too thick to count to three".

A fan of a good visual representation, I note the "Yes to AV (and beer)" graphic posted by Adam Ramsay in a piece entitled '11 reasons to vote Yes on Thursday'.

There has been a lot of "Yes"-leaning writing listed here. I haven't seen anyone arguing strongly that FPTP is mathematically a better system than AV. Most arguments against seem to be those listed by Gowers - or, as I have seen it called, "scaremongering and peddling untruths". The closest I've heard is something like 'vote no because AV doesn't go far enough'. I'm happy to be corrected.

Further contributions are most welcome in the comments or via Twitter.