Monthly Archives: November 2011

A Blind Spot of the MCAS

Posted on November 28, 2011 by

I’d like to blog about an important problem solving skill: The ability to make new symbolic representations. Fundamentally, it’s a language skill. Languages are symbolic representations, and where would the human race be without language?

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Mathematician’s Guide to Vest Removal

Posted on November 17, 2011 by

Our latest math video demo stars Harvard undergraduate Ryan Heffrin who demonstrates how to remove one’s vest without removing one’s overcoat. It’s a good party trick!

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Puzzle of Fortune – Solution

Posted on November 13, 2011 by

The winner of the Puzzle of Fortune is Diana G. of Massachusetts. Congratulations! Many thanks to all those who participated!

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Retaining College STEM Majors

Posted on November 10, 2011 by

In a recent article by Christopher Drew in the New York Times, Mr. Drew points out that 40 to 60 percent of students “planning engineering and science majors end up switching to other subjects or failing to get any degree,” … Continue reading →

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Greedy Clams – Solution

Posted on November 6, 2011 by

Here’s a solution to the Greedy Clam problem that was inspired by Luyi’s “Satiated Clam” geometry problem.

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Message to our Members

Posted on November 4, 2011 by

I wrote a message for one of our members, but I’d like to make it available to all our members and any student of math who might be interested, so I adapted it into this blog post.

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Greedy Clams

Posted on November 2, 2011 by

Here’s a problem inspired by Luyi’s “Satiated Clam” problem.  (Her problem makes me think of a clam with the biggest possible pearl inside.) The problem begins with the same setup as hers. Let ABCDEF and ABC’D’E’F’ be two regular hexagons with unit … Continue reading →

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