Inspired by Math!

Shecky Riemann is the blogger at Math-Frolic and now also at MathTango! He and I frolic through a number of subjects, getting to know who Shecky is, about his love of math, where he gets so many ideas for articles, how he and I are alike and different, what books and authors he likes the most, and more ...

Why is spherical trigonometry a lost art? What is "Heavenly Mathematics" about and what background is needed to learn the material? To you spherical trigonometry is an exquisite branch of mathematics. How so? What calculations could be performed accurately a few hundred years ago, or earlier? What techniques are used to determine the size of the earth, or the distance to the moon? What is the most elegant theorem of spherical trigonometry? How is spherical trigonometry important today in the context of modern technology? Is there a next book? What advice would you give to a parent whose child was struggling with math?

Dr. Devlin and I discuss his "Introduction to Mathematical Thinking" MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) in great detail. 64,000 students registered for the very challenging course, although most didn't finish. What made the course challenging? How did grading work? How was support provided? What role did community play in the course? Why was this MOOC more like Facebook than Youtube? How might universities use MOOCs in the future to find the brightest students they might not find otherwise? How can MOOCs level the playing field in education? What's the next big thing for Dr. Devlin?

How did you become a NYT columnist? How did "The Joy of x" get such a clever title? How did you get inspired by math? What makes you such a great math communicator? Who has influenced you? Tell us about one of your other books, "The Calculus of Friendship." Is there a next project? What advice would you give to a parent whose child was struggling with math?

[ Note: Audio quality choppy in places. We did the best we could. ] What motivated you to edit "Best Writing on Mathematics?" How did you pick 24 articles to include from thousands? Who is your audience? What makes a piece of writing beautiful the way a painting or a proof is beautiful? Tell us a bit about your life and how you first became interested in math. What advice would you give to a parent whose child struggled with math?

I ask Dr. Stewart to share his inspiration and enthusiasm about mathematics. Where do the ideas and the inspiration for writing your books come from? Where does your love of math and passion for sharing it come from? Is there an early childhood experience that served as a catalyst? What is mathematics to you? What is your favorite branch of mathematics and why? Can you share a story or two about someone who read one of your books and had their attitude towards math change? What do you think it is that readers are hungry for that you're feeding? What is your next book? What advice would you give to a parent whose child was struggling with math?

Dr. Posamentier and I explore triangles: what is so special about them? Why a book about them? We discuss secondary school geometry education. Why didn't I and many others get a good geometry education? How is geometry a different beast from other branches of math? What advice would Dr. Posamentier give to parents whose kids are struggling with math? And more!

Ed Burger is co-author, with Michael Starbird, of a delightfully thoughtful Princeton University Press book about thinking, The Five Elements of Effective Thinking. While the book is not specific to Math, there's plenty of thinking in all things mathematical plus my interviewee is a Math professor and a remarkably engaging one at that!I had a list of questions to ask Dr. Burger but I found myself straying from my plan because Ed's answers inspired other lines of inquiry. I experienced a number of aha's during our chat. If you're a parent or student you might gain some valuable insights about how you can improve your relationship with Math, and ultimately your grades.As a voracious thinker I thought I knew a lot about the subject of this book. I'm humbled and grateful to have much to think about after this interview. Enjoy!