What’s Best, According to the Italian Mathematician Alessio Figalli
The words “optimal” and “optimize” derive from the Latin “optimus,” or “best,” as in “make the best of things.” Alessio Figalli, a mathematician at the...
Tag : Mathematics
In Seattle, a Meeting of 5,444 Mathematical Minds
The world’s largest gathering of mathematicians convened in Seattle from Jan. 8 to Jan. 11 — 5,444 mathematicians, 3,272 talks. This year the program diverged...
Could Monkeys Really Type All of Shakespeare?
Science doesn’t usually tolerate frivolity, but the infinite monkey theorem enjoys an exception. The question it poses is thoroughly outlandish: Could an infinite number of...