## Finding Fibonacci, by Keith Devlin – a review

This book was sent to me by the publisher as a review copy. I have a terrible admission to make. I came to this book with a paltry knowledge of Fibonacci (Leonardo of Pisa). The knowledge that I thought that I had was quickly shown in fact to be incorrect, [...]

By | April 28th, 2017|0 Comments

The concept of proof by contradiction refers to taking a statement and assuming the opposite is true. When assuming the opposite is true we begin to further examine the our 'opposite' statement and reach to a conclusion which doesn't add up or in simple terms is absurd. Take the case: [...]

By | April 17th, 2017|0 Comments

## The UCT experience with regards to Mathematics

One of the biggest changes in my life has been the move from my remote little town in Eastern Cape to a big city such as Cape Town. It has been the most exciting, yet scary transition, because I know that this is a path which I have to take [...]

## The best writing on mathematics 2016, edited by Mircea Pitici – a review

This book was sent to me by the publisher as a review copy. http://press.princeton.edu/images/j10953.gif It is not easy to write a review for an anthology of writings, but I think that in such cases what is best discussed is the choice of writing and its range, both topically [...]

## Group Theory (lecture 2) by Robert de Mello Koch

As promised in the previous post, here is the second lecture by Prof Robert de Mello Koch on Group Theory.     Please comment if you have thoughts or questions from this video.

By | February 8th, 2017|0 Comments

## Group Theory (lecture 1) by Robert de Mello Koch

Some ten (and change) years ago, the African Summer Theory Institute (ASTI) took place in Cape Town at UCT. This was a course designed for students to give them a taste of a number of topics related to theoretical physics. These lectures were all recorded, and I watched them at [...]

By | January 19th, 2017|4 Comments

## “Integration sounds like interrogation and that scares me”

I recently received a message from a friend and the heading of the post perfectly describes what was said to me. Thereafter, an interesting integration question was sent to me. It read as follows:     I must admit, it does look quiet scary. My immediate thought was that some [...]

By | December 23rd, 2016|1 Comment

## The least preferred, but maybe the most understandable way of approximating π

Why $latex \pi$? I assume this is the question on everyone's mind. (Whether you're a Math lover or not) The simple answer would be that we all love pie, now don't we? Before I begin discussing any technicalities, I'd like to acknowledge that it is possible for some of us [...]

By | December 21st, 2016|1 Comment

## Maxwell’s Equations

Essentially, the entire theory of electromagnetism can be found in the following four equations: \begin{aligned}\mathbf{\nabla \cdot E} &= \frac{\rho}{\epsilon_{0}} \\ \mathbf{\nabla \times E} &= - \frac{\partial{\mathbf{B}}}{\partial{t}}\\ \mathbf{\nabla \cdot B} &= 0\phantom{\frac{1}{2}}\\ \mathbf{\nabla \times B} &= \mu_{0} \mathbf{j}+\mu_{0} \epsilon_{0} \frac{\partial{\mathbf{E}}}{\partial{t}} \end{aligned} These are Maxwell's Equations in differential form, not in [...]

## Faith, Fashion and Fantasy in the New Physics of the Universe, by Roger Penrose – a review

Cover page taken from http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10664.html   Roger Penrose is unquestionably a giant of 20th century theoretical physics. He has been enormously influential in diverse areas of both mathematics and physics, from the nature of spacetime to twistor theory, to geometrical structures and beyond. His famous, but perhaps less [...]

By | November 5th, 2016|0 Comments