Monthly Archives: November 2012

What I Do, Part 1: Programming languages

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Brent

[This is the second in an occasional series of posts explaining what I do in my “day job” as a computer science PhD student. The idea is to write a series of posts of increasing specificity, but all aimed at … Continue reading →

Posted in computation, programming | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Book review: The Universe in Zero Words

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Brent

The Universe in Zero Words: The Story of Mathematics as Told Through EquationsDana Mackenzie As the title suggests, the “gimmick” of this book is that each section centers around some particular equation, chosen for its beauty and depth. But it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in books, review | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

A computer-checked proof of the odd order theorem

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Brent

Big news: a proof of the Feit-Thompson Theorem (also known as the “odd order theorem”) has been completely formalized and verified by a computer, using the Coq proof assistant! Wait, what? Huh? you’re probably thinking. Well, let me unpack that … Continue reading →

Posted in algebra, links, programming, proof | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

More factorization diagrams

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Brent

My post on factorization diagrams from a month ago turned out to be (unexpectedly) quite popular! I got ten times as many hits as usual the day it was published, and since then quite a few other people have created … Continue reading →

Posted in arithmetic, links, pictures, primes, programming, recursion | Tagged , , | 15 Comments