What is there to say about chalk and mathematicians? Much of what there is, is said in this paper: “Chalk: Materials and concepts in mathematics research,” Michael J. Barany [pictured here] Donald MacKenzie, in: C. Coopmans, M. Lynch, J. Vertesi and S. Woolgar (Eds) Representation in Scientific Practice Revisited, 2014, pp. 107–130 (Cambridge, MA: The MIT […]
Tag: chalk
Austrian Trumpet Bubbles (study)
Christoph Reuter, Univ.-Prof. Dr. (of the Institut für Musikwissenschaft, Universität Wien, Austria) has not only investigated the Psychoacoustics of Chalkboard Squeaking, he’s also associated with a unique experiment which looked at ‘stabile Seifenblase am Schalltrichter der Trompete’ [trumpet with robust soap bubble at the bell] which is shown here in this video : NOTE: Improbable […]
A Measured Look at Schoolroom Chalk Dust
At long last, after millions of students in thousands of classrooms have freely and incautiously breathed trillions of breaths, there’s a report about the question: How much chalk dust enters the air when a teacher uses a blackboard? The study, Assessment of Airborne Fine Particulate Matter and Particle Size Distribution in Settled Chalk Dust During Writing and Dusting […]
The chalk of (some) mathematicians’ dreams
Professor Satyan Devadoss solved the central chalk problem. Devadoss describes it, on the “Math and Statistics at Williams College” site: There have been rumors about a dream chalk, a chalk so powerful that mathematics practically writes itself; a chalk so amazing that no incorrect proof can be written using this chalk. I can finally say, after […]