DiscoverThe 3b1b podcast3 - Steven Strogatz: In and out of love with math
3 - Steven Strogatz: In and out of love with math

3 - Steven Strogatz: In and out of love with math

Update: 2021-08-074
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Steven Strogatz, an applied mathematician at Cornell, is a prominent figure in the field of nonlinear dynamics and chaos, and a widely beloved popularizer of math.


Episode sponsor: https://brilliant.org/3b1b


Brilliant is a great site/app for being more active in learning math.




--- Books by Strogatz which we discussed ---


Chaos and Nonlinear dynamics


https://amzn.to/3lFQjrU




Infinite powers


https://amzn.to/3AnvXIg




Unpublished appendix about Newton's letters to Leibniz: 


https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5436e695e4b07f1e91b30155/t/5dd434fb9d105d031ded69de/1574188283323/Appendix+2+-+Newton+on+infinite+series+and+the+Epistola+Posterior+v4.pdf




--- Other things which came up ---




Strogatz's senior thesis:


https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5436e695e4b07f1e91b30155/t/5dca1c993141bb5946c54b45/1573526688118/The-mathematics-of-supercoiled-DNA.pdf




His first published paper:


https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/78/3/1461.full.pdf




Crick’s paper about linking numbers and nucleosomes with the memorable comment that inspired his experiment with the ribbon:


https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/73/8/2639.full.pdf




The 4-dog chase problem and its solution.


https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jun/03/can-you-solve-it-dogs-in-pursuit


https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jun/03/did-you-solve-it-dogs-in-pursuit




For a full solution with calculus, see Strogatz's book "The Calculus of Friendship"


https://amzn.to/3CyVe48




Survey for kids on their desired occupation:


https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lego-group-kicks-off-global-program-to-inspire-the-next-generation-of-space-explorers-as-nasa-celebrates-50-years-of-moon-landing-300885423.html


 


A radical approach to real analysis


https://amzn.to/2VwtgF3




Twitter thread on what, morally, a normal subgroup is.


https://mobile.twitter.com/sbagley/status/1296211024534622208




Leibniz formula via patterns from primes


https://youtu.be/NaL_Cb42WyY




--- Table of contents ---


0:00 - Intro


1:15 - Ad


1:59 - The perfect problem for a high school student


12:43 - Starting the Princeton undergrad


22:52 - The most beautiful proof


26:58 - What makes someone love a problem?


36:05 - Putting lessons online


41:57 - In and out of pre-med


47:05 - The geometry of DNA


58:53 - Using teaching as a means to learn


1:09:47 - Do students like history?


1:18:39 - The truth of Newton and Leibniz


1:23:29 - Archimedes, a true great


1:28:32 - Pitfalls of pure math exposition


1:39:03 - "Morality" in math


1:43:20 - An under-motivated culture


1:51:48 - What's next?

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3 - Steven Strogatz: In and out of love with math

3 - Steven Strogatz: In and out of love with math

Grant Sanderson