TYING IT UP WITH STRING — by Steve Nadis
My 4th-grader is starting to study some interesting things in math. Last week it was symmetry. This week it was shapes, and I used one of the assignments to explain to her and her younger sister the difference between geometry and topology. “My book is all about that,” I said.
“You say that about everything we study in math,” my 4th-grader countered, remembering that I’d made the same point in our discussion of symmetry last week. And she’s right. Because string theory is sometimes billed as a “theory of everything,” and as such it consumes everything in its path. Even when things don’t seem to be connected to string theory, a way is often found to bring them into the fold. That’s one of the reasons the theory is so annoying to its critics and one of the reasons that my book is so annoying to my daughter.
Posted by
at
04:07:22
I believe it was your younger daughter who said she wouldn’t vote for you for president. Now your older one is going to write a scathing review of your great masterpiece. “A prophet is not without honor except in his own home.”
What does Math have to do with volleyball?
WFW
Nice quote, GM. And hello there, WFW. Your comment reminds us (me) as to how far we’ve gotten “off message.” –S