Blog
Groundwater Recharge in Old Cemeteries
I have a delightfully ghoulish topic of what happens to groundwater recharge in old cemeteries. As I have talked about before, groundwater recharge is important. First, the water table needs to be refreshed. Drawdowns reduce the water supply. Second, the ability of groundwater to absorb rainwater is important for reducing
Continue reading
Stokes’ Theorem and Green’s Theorem
I took a look at Green’s theorem last week and its relationship to the planimeter. Green’s theorem is a remarkable work that tells us much about the structure of two-dimensional shapes. As I said, it’s analogous to the fundamental theorem of calculus, finding the area under the curve. But Green’s
Continue reading
Howard County Charter Review
On Monday night, the Howard County Council adopted CR18-2019, establishing the octennial Charter Review Commission and its membership. I am fortunate to be appointed and I look forward to continuing good work for the county. The nice thing about Charter Review is that unlike the Board of Appeals, there is
Continue reading
Green’s Theorem and the Planimeter
I am going to start by saying I do not find Green’s theorem very intuitive. It is a magnificently powerful theorem. It has been proven, so it must be true, but unlike many other theorems, I do not feel it comes naturally. (I have mentioned this before!) But I think
Continue reading
Context of Japanese Syncretism
For those of us brought up in a traditional Western society, religion is well-defined. It is a core belief system that includes some sort of god or gods and some sort of moral code or direction. A key feature of these religions is that one cannot be a member of
Continue reading
Gradient Fields Forever
The gradient of a scalar field is one of the most powerful topics I’ve ever seen in mathematics. It is the, quite simply, the multidimensional generalization of the derivative. We can interpret it is a slope in more than one direction. For instance, in calculus, we deal with two-dimensional lines
Continue reading
New Chapter on Mathematical Literacy
I am quite happy to see that Shifting Contexts, Stable Core: Advancing Quantitative Literacy in Higher Education, a new volume from MAA Press edited by Luke Tunstall, Gizem Karaali, and Victor Piercey. The volume collects papers on mathematical literacy and addresses many ways we can improve it. From the description:
Continue reading
