Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Mathematical Symbol Frequency Analysis: A Tale of Errors

2025-06-07

Dr. Drang reviews Raúl Rojas's 'The Language of Mathematics', exploring the history and standardization of mathematical symbols. A frequency analysis table of symbols, based on arXiv papers and engineering textbooks, caught his attention, revealing errors. Mistakes included an alpha (α) being listed as 'a', and fraction bars represented as two boxes. Tracing the source data, Drang uncovered the errors' origins in data processing and typesetting oversights. The post highlights not only the history of mathematical symbols but also the crucial importance of rigorous data handling in academic research.

(leancrew.com)

Misc mathematical symbols frequency analysis data errors

Pandoc: A Surprisingly Effective LaTeX to MathML Converter

2025-05-03

The author explores various methods for converting LaTeX equations to MathML, ultimately finding Pandoc to be the most efficient. Pandoc effortlessly handles both single-line and multi-line equations, including complex matrices and piecewise functions. While a minor bug was discovered in Pandoc's handling of equations involving limits and summations, its overall performance is excellent. A Python script is provided to clean up Pandoc's output MathML for improved efficiency.

(leancrew.com)

Development

The Bolt Twiddling Puzzle: A Mathematical Solution to a Gardner Classic

2025-03-07

This blog post tackles a classic mathematical puzzle posed by Martin Gardner in 1958: Two identical bolts intermesh; if you twiddle them like thumbs, do the bolt heads move closer, farther apart, or remain at the same distance? The author provides a detailed geometric analysis explaining why the bolt heads maintain the same distance, refuting Gardner's less intuitive escalator analogy. The post includes diagrams of thread standards and the author's own 3D bolt illustrations for better understanding.

(leancrew.com)

Misc mathematical puzzle bolts

Unraveling the Mystery of the Antikythera Mechanism: A 254:19 Cosmic Code

2024-12-15

Discovered in the first century BCE, the Antikythera mechanism is a complex astronomical device capable of tracking the movements of the sun, moon, and planets. Its intricate gear system is astonishing. This article delves into a specific 254:19 gear ratio within the mechanism, revealing it's not arbitrary but a clever reflection of the sun and moon's movements over a 19-year Metonic cycle, demonstrating the remarkable understanding of astronomy possessed by ancient Greeks. The article corrects previous misunderstandings about the Saros and Metonic cycles and explains the mathematical principles behind this gear ratio, unveiling the profound insight of ancient Greeks into celestial mechanics.

(leancrew.com)

Tech Antikythera Mechanism Metonic Cycle Astronomy