May 2014 - mathfun@mailman.xmission.com

Re: [math-fun] Ramanujan, the movie (?)
by Bill Gosper 15 May '14

15 May '14

On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 4:55 PM, GEORGE E ANDREWS <gea1(a)psu.edu> wrote: > I appeared in a significant segment of the film. I think it was an > accurate portrayal of Ramanujan's life and work. Of course, one must allow > for the fact that one cannot well describe the more intricate aspects of > Ramanujan's work. There is extensive footage from inside Trinity College. > I do not believe that the comments below accurate. I do own a VHS copy > which I can loan to anyone who (a) has as VHS player, and (b) is interested. > To which NeilB responds: "I.e., he's not lending it to anyone." I strongly recommend digitizing it before|in lieu of letting it out of your house. > > Sincerely, > George Andrews > Dick Askey sent this pointer to Letters from an Indian Clerk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUnmAhXe9bg Apropos the new film, NeilB points out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramanujan_%28film%29 > ------------------------------ > *From: *"Bill Gosper" <billgosper(a)gmail.com> > *To: *math-fun(a)mailman.xmission.com > *Sent: *Wednesday, May 14, 2014 5:56:29 PM > > *Subject: *Re: [math-fun] Ramanujan, the movie (?) > > Calcyman> > > I guess Warren meant that _he_ wasn't endorsing the movie. > > Usually films about mathematicians are terribly inaccurate, and it is unlikely > that this will be an exception. At least it will (presumably) bring the > existence of Ramanujan to the public's attention, which is undoubtedly a > good thing (depending on the portrayal). > > Oh, and as for the bits where Ramanujan goes to Cambridge to collaborate > with Hardy, I'm safely betting that it won't be filmed inside Trinity... > > > Sincerely, > > > Adam P. Goucher > > This sounds almost like the producers would be denied entry. ? > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news-inter… Adam may lose his bet. --rwg > Anyway, I predict that if we funsters like this movie, > > it will be a colossal flop. > > And conversely ... . > > Does anybody remember > > Nova <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206501/?ref_=tt_ov_inf>: Season 15, > Episode 19 The Man Who Loved Numbers (22 Mar. 1988) > TV Episode - Documentary<http://www.imdb.com/genre/Documentary?ref_=tt_ov_inf> > | Biography <http://www.imdb.com/genre/Biography?ref_=tt_ov_inf> > ? > It seems to remain digitally unavailable. > --rwg >

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[math-fun] (no subject)
by Bill Gosper 15 May '14

15 May '14

Mike Stay>The text is irrelevant. He was looking at the projection as though seeing the room from underneath instead of from above, which makes the doorway look wrong.<metaweta Precisely. http://nbickford.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/impossibox.jpg I actually struggled to see those rooms "correctly". --rwg On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 7:22 AM, Simon Plouffe <simon.plouffe(a)gmail.com> wrote: Hello, we only see part of the image, http://gosper.org/imposs.png is this intended ??? Have a bonne journée, Simon Plouffe

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Re: [math-fun] Ramanujan, the movie (?)
by Adam P. Goucher 14 May '14

14 May '14

I guess Warren meant that _he_ wasn't endorsing the movie. Usually films about mathematicians are terribly inaccurate, and it is unlikely that this will be an exception. At least it will (presumably) bring the existence of Ramanujan to the public's attention, which is undoubtedly a good thing (depending on the portrayal). Oh, and as for the bits where Ramanujan goes to Cambridge to collaborate with Hardy, I'm safely betting that it won't be filmed inside Trinity... Sincerely, Adam P. Goucher > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Shripad Garge > Sent: 05/13/14 06:51 AM > To: math-fun > Subject: Re: [math-fun] Ramanujan, the movie (?) > > Dear Warren, > > Could you please explain what kind of endorsements were you expecting and > why you guess that this movie will be horrible? > > Warm regards, > Shripad. > > > 2014-05-13 2:23 GMT+05:30 Warren D Smith <warren.wds(a)gmail.com>: > > > http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3037162/ > > > > pointed out by Dave Langer. Will be released sometime 2014. It > > perhaps might be available only in India, says it is Tamil+English > > language. No endorsement implied; in fact my total guess is, it'll be > > horrible. > > > > -- > > Warren D. Smith > > http://RangeVoting.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > > math-fun mailing list > > math-fun(a)mailman.xmission.com > > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun > > > > > > -- > > Shripad M. Garge. / श्रीपाद म. गर्गे. > > Department of Mathematics, > Indian Institute of Technology, > Powai, Mumbai 400 076. > > 022-2576-7473/8473 (Off./Res.) > http://www.math.iitb.ac.in/~shripad/ > _______________________________________________ > math-fun mailing list > math-fun(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun

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Re: [math-fun] Ramanujan, the movie (?)
by Bill Gosper 14 May '14

14 May '14

Calcyman> I guess Warren meant that _he_ wasn't endorsing the movie. Usually films about mathematicians are terribly inaccurate, and it is unlikely that this will be an exception. At least it will (presumably) bring the existence of Ramanujan to the public's attention, which is undoubtedly a good thing (depending on the portrayal). Oh, and as for the bits where Ramanujan goes to Cambridge to collaborate with Hardy, I'm safely betting that it won't be filmed inside Trinity... Sincerely, Adam P. Goucher This sounds almost like the producers would be denied entry. ? Anyway, I predict that if we funsters like this movie, it will be a colossal flop. Does anybody remember Nova <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206501/?ref_=tt_ov_inf>: Season 15, Episode 19 The Man Who Loved Numbers (22 Mar. 1988) TV Episode - Documentary<http://www.imdb.com/genre/Documentary?ref_=tt_ov_inf> | Biography <http://www.imdb.com/genre/Biography?ref_=tt_ov_inf> ? It seems to remain digitally unavailable. --rwg

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[math-fun] about : Tables Numériques Universelles , Marcel Boll
by Simon Plouffe 14 May '14

14 May '14

Hello, I am trying to locate an important book which is Table NumÃ©riques Universelles by Marcel Boll that book is a kind of Abramowitz and Stegun, published in 1964 (3rd edition). Apparently, not in Amazon, not anywhere, One of the books of Marcel Boll, containing sequences, numbers and many useful information is : Le mystÃ¨re des nombres et des formes. but that one can be located, I have a copy in deja vu format, trying to convert the thing into a pdf, not easy. Does anybody have a copy of that book : TNU from Marcel Boll ? Best Regards, Simon Plouffe

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[math-fun] Correlation
by Bill Gosper 14 May '14

14 May '14

EAngelini>US spending on science, space, and technology correlates with suicides by hanging, strangulation and suffocation:http://www.tylervigen.com/ Best, É. I'll bet that first graph goes completely to hell back when Nixon, Johnson, and Proxmire gutted the space program for Vietnam and The Great Society. --rwg

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[math-fun] I've been to too many G4s
by Bill Gosper 14 May '14

14 May '14

Glancing at a 4th-grader's homework, I thought they were torturing him with impossible figures. http://gosper.org/imposs.png --rwg

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[math-fun] Correlation
by Eric Angelini 14 May '14

14 May '14

US spending on science, space, and technology correlates with suicides by hanging, strangulation and suffocation: http://www.tylervigen.com/ Best, É.

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Re: [math-fun] math-fun Digest, Vol 135, Issue 12
by Warren D Smith 13 May '14

13 May '14

> Message: 5 > Date: Tue, 13 May 2014 11:21:04 +0530 > From: Shripad Garge <smgarge(a)gmail.com> > To: math-fun <math-fun(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: Re: [math-fun] Ramanujan, the movie (?) > Message-ID: > <CABKQidE4zFK2OoVcoMNPTJHLJNJfPsffuFxcagiE-rA=ygu+HA(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > Dear Warren, > > ?Could you please explain what kind of endorsements were you expecting and > why you guess that this movie will be horrible? > > Warm regards, > Shripad. ? --I wasn't expecting anything. Why will it be horrible? I do not know if it will be, but I (unfortunately) saw 2 movies about "math geniuses" namely ""Good Will Hunting" about a fictional math wiz, and "Wonderful mind" about John Nash, and they both were really bad. And conveying what Ramanujan did in a movie probably is harder than conveying the stuff Nash did (not that the movie even tried to convey Nash's main accomplishments, but I claim it would have been possible to at least some extent). Actually I once was seated right between John Nash & John Milnor at a dinner (Nobel & Fields Medal, respectively) and it was one of the most boring dinners ever :)

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Re: [math-fun] Iridium & Indium (inside future analogue of light bulbs?)
by Henry Baker 13 May '14

13 May '14

The good news is that "quantum dots" don't depend upon normal valence electron energy levels in order to achieve their properties. Their properties are primarily a result of their size & configuration, which is in the 5-20 nm range -- almost achievable in the next 1-2 generations of lithography. So many of the needs for exotic materials with very specific bandgaps will be replaced by these engineered quantum dots. --- It was my impression that most, if not all, iridium comes from outer space; there is very little indigenous iridium on the Earth's surface. There may be a lot in the Earth's core, but it's going to be a little difficult to mine it from there. At 04:42 PM 12/4/2012, Warren Smith wrote: >Iridium is 40x rarer than gold and total world production is only >about 10 tons annually. > >Indium is also pretty rare, but not as rare: 1000 ton annual production. >So I think if iridium is a substantial component of solid plastic >lighting source then that will not be a useful technology for Average >Joe Consumer. I would think >you'd want ingredients common enough for million-ton production. >If they can remove the need for Iridium and other rare elements, the >general concept sounds excellent as a future lighting source. > >-- >Warren D. Smith >http://RangeVoting.org <-- add your endorsement (by clicking >"endorse" as 1st step)

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