January 2009 – Page 2 – David Richeson: Division by Zero

Publish or perish…?

I just received a copy of The Survival of a Mathematician: From Tenure-Track to Emeritus, by Steven Krantz, to review for MAA Reviews. I am only two pages in and I have already found something interesting (on p. xiv, to be precise). It is a hard fact that most American Ph.D. mathematicians write very few…

Mathematician: top job

I just got back from the Joint Mathematics Meeting in Washington, DC. While I was gone the Wall Street Journal ran an article, Doing the Math to Find the Good Jobs. In it they reveal the best and worst jobs as compiled by Les Krantz, author of “Jobs Rated Almanac.” According to the study, mathematicians…

Asking for a letter of recommendation

Here is my advice to students who need to ask their professor for a letter of recommendation. Ask your professor nicely and politely. You do not have to ask the professor in person, but do not ask the professor in a quickly jotted, informal email in all lower case! Early, early, early. It takes time…

Happy New Year!

This is one day late, but worth posting despite that, I think. Happy New Year! From Abstruse Goose: Happy Zeno Year

Definition of continuity video

Thank you to Dansmath for turning me on the website xtranormal. It allows you to create your own animated videos. It is easy and fun. You can choose the characters, the scene, the camera angles, the gestures and facial expression, music, etc. They do the voices for you—you just type the script. Here are some of Dan’s videos….