Throwback Fact: The Mathematical Association of America

In a couple of weeks the Center of Math will be attending the Joint Mathematics Meeting (JMM) in Seattle. The American Mathematical Society (AMS) and the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) run this annual event, which is one of the largest mathematics meeting in the world. To get ready for our trip, the Center of Math wanted to write about the history of the MAA for this weeks Throwback Fact. And if your wondering why we aren’t talking about the AMS, it’s because we already did a Throwback Fact on them, which you can check out here. So keep reading to learn more about the MAA!

Current logo by the MAA. Visit their website here!

Holiday Math: Secret Santa

Around the holidays, one fun tradition is to set up an arrangement wherein members of a group anonymously trade gifts with one another, a process which is often called "Secret Santa." In this new video by the Center of Math, we mathematically investigate the odds that randomly assigning people around will create a valid exchange: it's a bit more complicated than you might think! Keep reading to watch it here.

The Holiday Math Gift Guide: Best Gifts for the Math Enthusiast in Your Life! (Part 2)

With the holiday season in full swing, the Center of Math wanted to share with you some great gift giving ideas for the math enthusiast in your life. We had a post like this last year, which you can check out here for even more great ideas. This year we've added some new categories and removed some of the old to keep up with the ever-changing market.  So keep reading to see some great gift ideas hand-picked by the WCoM staff.

Star Wars Video Special

Hey there! I bet you're all quite excited about today's release of Star Wars Episode VII: I know I am. To celebrate this great film series' revival, I've made a video where I apply a bit of science and mathematics to one of the iconic scenes of Episode IV. Keep reading to see what it is!

Advanced Knowledge Problem of the Week

This'll be the last Problem of the Week for a while, so I decided to write it based on something particularly neat. Take a look at it!

I've written up the solution to this as well, which you can find after the break.

Problem of the Week

Even if it hasn't started snowing yet, by golly it's supposed to be wintry in December, so have a suitably wintry Problem of the Week.

As always, I've written up my solution to this problem below. 

Famous Women of Science and Mathematics

Today, the Worldwide Center of Mathematics is going to talk about some of the most famous and accomplished women in science and mathematics. While the number of women in math and other STEM disciplines today is still small compared to the amount of men, it is important to realize that women can achieve just as much as men can, because gender does not determine intelligence, skill, or aptitude. Keep reading to learn about some inspiring ladies!

Advanced Knowledge Problem of the Week

Seems like it's yet another Wednesday, and that means it's time for yet another Advanced Knowledge Problem, which today is even more concise than this introduction.

Solved it or not, feel free to check out my solution, right below.

Holiday Math: Dreidel Simulation

Happy Hanukkah, Center of Math fans! Since today's the first day (in Cambridge) of the holiday, I decided to take a mathematical/computational look at the dreidel game, one of the many traditions practiced on Hanukkah. Keep reading to learn how the game is played, and to see what I found out with my simulation of the game—the results may surprise you!

Problem of the Week

Here's a Problem of the Week based on a puzzle you might have heard of before, with a slight twist to make it more interesting. Have a go at it!

Like always, I've written up a solution to this problem, which you can read below. 

Advanced Knowledge Problem of the Week

As finals for many an institution loom closer and closer, here's an Advanced Knowledge Problem that might very well be found on a Multivariable Calculus exam. If it looks too hard, try looking up and contemplating the method that's used to calculate the "usual" Gaussian integral, that is, the integral below without the r-squared term.

Keep reading to see how I solved this problem.

The WCoM Blog Celebrates 100k Views! And A Look Back at Our Favorite Blog Moments!

Today, the staff at the Worldwide Center of Mathematics is celebrating, because we've reached 100,000 views on our blog! We have worked very hard to achieve this number, but know that we could not have done it without our amazing fans. So we just wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU to everyone who has been supporting our blog (and all things Center of Math) for the past couple of years. We only hope that you have enjoyed reading our blog as much as we have enjoyed writing it. Let’s continue this journey by taking a second to look back at how the blog got started and some of our favorite moments from our blog history.