Category Archives: — By the Mathematician

Q: Why does the leading digit 1 appear more often than other digits in all sorts of numbers? What’s the deal with Benford’s Law?

Posted on December 28, 2009 by The Mathematician

Mathematician: Benford’s Law (sometimes called the Significant-Digit Law) states that when we gather numbers from many different types of random sources (e.g. the front pages of newspapers, tables of physical constants at the back of science textbooks, the heights of … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Math | 1 Comment

Q: How does the Monty Hall Problem work?

Posted on December 26, 2009 by The Physicist

For those of you who aren’t familiar with The Monty Hall Problem: You’re on a game show where there is a prize hidden behind one of three doors (A, B, or C), and the objective is to guess the correct … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Brain Teaser, Math | 13 Comments

Q: What the heck are imaginary numbers, how are they useful, and do they really exist?

Posted on December 23, 2009 by The Mathematician

Mathematician: Imaginary numbers arise quite naturally when you start asking certain basic mathematical questions. Probably the best example is the following: Once we know how to multiply and add, we might ask ourselves “are there any numbers x that satisfy … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Math, Philosophical | 19 Comments

Q: What did Einstein mean by: “Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.”

Posted on December 9, 2009 by The Physicist

Albert Einstein: “Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.” Mathematician: It is impossible to know precisely what Einstein meant by this quote without being able to ask him. It is often … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, -- By the Physicist, -- Guest Author, Philosophical, Physics | 61 Comments

Q: Why?

Posted on December 2, 2009 by The Mathematician

Mathematician: From time to time, people like asking us questions such as “Why?”, while steadfastly refusing to explain what the heck they are talking about. The best example of this was a naked guy who approached our “Ask a Mathematician … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, -- By the Physicist, Evolution, Philosophical, Quantum Theory | 7 Comments

Q: Why does math work so well at modeling the world around us?

Posted on November 16, 2009 by The Mathematician

Mathematician: One important thing to realize about mathematics is that it was primarily created for practical purposes. For example, numbers were likely used in the beginning to count possessions, multiplication for trade, and geometry to measure plots of land (or … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Math, Philosophical | 12 Comments