Today's Math Behind the News
A light-hearted and unique perspective on today's top news stories by math evangelist Larry Shiller
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December 3, 2007: Transportation: what's safe, energy, efficient, and cheap? You may be surprised
Travelers know a good ROI when they see one. Why doesn't the government?
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November 30, 2007: Nitpicking numbers
Republican Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani has been using statistics incorrectly
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November 29, 2007: Do you know the secret to stock options?
What exactly is the Black-Scholes formula for pricing options?
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November 28, 2007: Pioneering mathematician Gene Golub dies
A pioneer in the field of numerical analysis succumbs to leukemia, leaving a far-reaching legacy
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November 27, 2007: Losing money? You have good company.
Isaac Newton and Mark Twain both lost fortunes on the markets. You\'re in good company.
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November 26, 2007: Giving thanks and gifts
Shopping - the American pasttime
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November 23, 2007: Order from chaos
Determing the optimal number of relationships may have its roots in chaos theory - or rabbits
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November 22, 2007: Thanksgiving numbers
The U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Agriculture put the numbers on the story
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November 21, 2007: The arms race in animals: can we learn something?
Scientists discover an 8 foot sea scorpion that lived 390 million years ago
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November 20, 2007: Two trillion dollars is a catchy number
Not only is there $2 trillion in subprime mortgage and credit card debt at risk, there another $2 trillion in lending that may not occur
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November 19, 2007: Literacy, is it just reading?
The NEA says Americans not reading like we used to, and that could have repercussions for the economy and the government, or not
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November 16, 2007: Giving thanks for easier air travel
President Bush is taking steps to make air travel more pleasant over Thanksgiving
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November 15, 2007: The errors of our ways
Type I errors make the news; will Musharraf continue to do so?
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November 14, 2007: Wasteful spending
Like beauty, wasteful spending is in the eyes of the beholder
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November 13, 2007: Thomas Jefferson and economic levers
Thought the subprime mortgage market was bad? Wait until you hear the numbers behind the pending credit card crisis.
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November 12, 2007: Silence and sweat
Two new students link silence and sweat to improved thinking
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November 9, 2007: Hand waving works
Students learn math better when using their hands
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November 8, 2007: The half-life of words
Half-life describes common phenomena in science. But words?
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November 7, 2007: When women get pregnant
Want to start a hot argument? Just talk about abortion.
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November 6, 2007: Writers try to do the math
Exponential profits? Fuzzy math? Uh-huh.
Today's Math Behind the News
