Tag Archives: Noam Chomsky

Organ Recital

February 14, 2026 – 7:59 am

Trigger warnings for this post:

  1. Suffering and pain.
  2. Cessation of life.
  3. Mathematics.

After the post of December 9, for some reason I wanted to record here a surgical operation in 2019. Then I became preoccupied with mathematics.

Against a concave white wall, a line of rough masks, two eye-holes each, made of tree bark
Hera Büyüktaşcıyan, “Dendrologia,” 2023; part of an exhibit called Phantom Quartet at Arter Istanbul, visited Wednesday, February 4, 2026. The bark of the masks is said to be taken from dead trees on the Isle of Vassivière in the artificial Lac de Vassivière, Limousin, France

On the subject of mathematics, let me take the opportunity to recommend “The Tool/Weapon Duality of Mathematics,” by Alexandre Borovik, recently published in the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics (volume 16, number 1, January 2026; pages 365–392). Continue reading →

By David Pierce | Posted in Istanbul, Plato, Principles of Art, Turkey | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Multiplicity of Mathematics

October 8, 2020 – 5:54 am

I continue with the recent posts about mathematics, which so far have been as follows.

  1. “What Mathematics Is”: As distinct from the natural sciences, mathematics is the science whose findings are proved by deduction. I say this myself, and I find it at least implicit in an address by Euphemia Lofton Haynes.
  2. “More of What It Is”: Some mathematicians do not distinguish mathematics from physics.
  3. “Knottedness”: Topologically speaking, there is a sphere whose outside is not that of a sphere. The example is Alexander’s Horned Sphere, but it cannot be constructed physically.
  4. “Why It Works”: Why there can be such a thing as the horned sphere.

When I first drafted the first post above, I said a lot more than I eventually posted. I saved it for later, and later is starting to come now.

Octahedron with edges divided in the Golden Ratio by the vertices of an icosahedron

Continue reading →

By David Pierce | Posted in Education, Euclid, Mathematics, Philosophy of Mathematics | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

On reading too much into words

November 22, 2012 – 11:47 am

First let it be noted that nothing I say here will have any effect on hostilities in the so-called Holy Land or anywhere else. I have no need here to take any particular line; no reader should assume that I do or do not elsewhere follow any particular line.

I do wish to promote clear thought. I should like to think that my friends and colleagues have a similar wish, especially when they are academics like me.  Of course, what counts as clear thought may vary. I am a mathematician, professionally; I work in the mathematics department of a university. Certain modes of thought are therefore habitual with me; they may not be habitual in other departments, not to mention other walks of life. I may adopt my modes of thought at the expense of others.

I feel compelled to say such things, having been shocked to find that what I say here may be at all controversial. Continue reading →

By David Pierce | Posted in Education, Facebook | Also tagged , | Comments (0)