Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician | Hacker News Reader

Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician

standupmaths.com

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Hello everyone. Didn’t expect to see myself here. I was so startled I made an account.

Ah… you’ll probably enjoy my new book about maths mistakes. Check if your favourite programming error is in there!

http://wwwh.umble-pi.com

Did you use a "maths mistake" in HN to get yourself here? ;-)

that url is dangerous.

it uses a strategy which is mainly utilized by phishing websites to mask the legitimacy of a fqdn. Its also http, so easily modified by hostile parties.

imo a very poor idea considering how you ultimately end up on a shop. i know its just a 301 redirect vhost, but nonetheless...

Hi Matt, great to see you here, I enjoyed your performance at freenode.live last year in Bristol.

Thanks! I enjoyed that evening in the museum. My spherical camera is still working as well.

wait... you are on freenode irc network too or just attending the freenode.live event?

Sadly I was only hanging out at the live event (as the so-called “entertainment”).

Hi Matt! Great to see you're doing so well!

(Fellow UWA alum and Slime Volleyball ex-World-Champion here. :D )

Hello! It’s been a long time since playing slime volleyball on translucent iMacs.

Didn't expect to see you posting here either. Anyway, thanks for teaching me what a sausage catastrophe is!

Does it cover the Parker Square?

Hey Matt! I'm surprised you didn't have an account before, although I guess lurking's a lot easier around these parts.

I just wanted to let you know that I've been a really big fan for a really long time, and you are part of the reason I'm so openly nerdy and excited about math and science in general. Thanks for all of the amazing content you put out.

Also, Let me know if you're gonna be in the Boston area any time. I'd love to buy you a pint.

Given we've got Matt Parker and Excel on the front page at the same time, it feels like I have to recommend this video of both:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBX2QQHlQ_I

It's daring, but comes nowhere near the great spreadsheet comics of the past.

Enjoyed this! Except the advertisement for his book in the middle of the show.

Also recommend Numberphile YT channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoxcjq-8xIDTYp3uz647V5A that also has some cool stuff w/ Matt and others

Also check out his channel! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSju5G2aFaWMqn-_0YBtq5A

Speaking of which, this is my favorites skits from Matt's Youtube channel https://youtu.be/Bcr9-93wXng (Stand-up comedy about Equations That Correspond to Vortex Motions (aka "smoke rings”).).

He does the best calculator unboxing videos. Very detailed and accurate: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt5AfwLFPxWKAINNfxIdY...

"There is only One True Parabola" https://youtu.be/hoh4TmPzu1w?t=70

I find the end bit even more amusing :) https://youtu.be/hoh4TmPzu1w?t=558

Matt, what are your top recommended intro to proofs books for math beginners?

For a modern popular math book I would recommend The Man Who Loved Only Numbers (by Paul Hoffman) about the life Paul Erdős. Is a great intro to the life of a working mathematician and a bit about proof.

The classic text is How To Solve It (by Georg Pólya). A bit antiquated but still good.

Beyond that: find an introductory text book to a subject and start trying the worked examples!

Isn't that a bit misleading because Erdos was a famously unusual mathematician personality/lifestyle? I think focusing on Erdos as an intro fetishizes mathematicians/mathematics.

Good point but the book is very clear about how unusual Erdős was and talks about the lives of more normal mathematicians he worked with.

Thanks for the recommendations!

You'd recommend Polya over "How to Prove It" by Velleman? Polya's seems more about general problem-solving techniques, versus proofs.

I do enjoy his geeky humour, and the rest of the Festival of Spoken nerd's (@fotsn), and actually went to see him and others just a couple of weeks ago at @AEOUD.

It was also the day before he posted https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSSsZLTMDq0 which explains how I was the 'Thirty-seventh' commentator - though you'll have to sort by newest comments and go down to at least the first couple of hundred comments to get that joke :)

If you like nerd humor, you'll also like Standup Economist (standupeconomist.com)

I'm not into math at all, stumbled upon his stuff a year ago, ended up marathoning his entire Youtube channel. Great presenter and entertainer.

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