Mathematics is truth in its purest form. War is based on lies. Thus, mathematicians have a special duty to oppose war. – Mathematicians for Peace	Eric Schechter Associate Professor Math Department Vanderbilt University	Email: eric.schechter@vanderbilt.edu Office: 1529 Stevenson Center Phone: 615-322-6651 Dept: 615-322-6672 Fax: 615-343-0215 Time: central	My web pages for undergrads: Common errors in math Why study calculus? The cubic formula What are "real numbers," really? Infinity: introduction and history Gauge (or KH or generalized-Riemann) integrals Wolfram's math disproves "intelligent design"      Other work of mine: Constructivism is difficult Books, papers   (my Erdös # is 5) A web page for the Axiom of Choice VU Math tech janitor & co-webmaster Topology Atlas (I do part of this) Math software (I collect it) The enjoyment of one's tools is an essential ingredient of successful work. -- Donald Knuth, computer scientist (1938- )
	Spring 2008 MWF other days before 10 am sometimes available in office sometimes available by appointment 10:10 - 11:00 am Math 250 sec 01 in SC-1431 11:10 am - noon scheduled office hour -- no appointment needed 12:10 - 1:00 pm Math 196 sec 04 in SC-2212 * after 1:10 pm sometimes available in office   * Thursdays 3:10-4:00 pm recitation for Math 196 sec 04 meets in SC-1117, led by Mr. Acosta

Classical & Nonclassical Logics, August 2005, Princeton University Press. Classical logic is just one of the many kinds of reasoning present in everyday thought; when presented by itself -- as in most introductory texts on logic -- it seems arbitrary and unnatural to students new to the subject. CNL contrasts several logics, thereby illuminating all of them. No external reviews are available yet, but two of P.U.P.'s internal reviewers said "It will be a valuable addition to the literature, especially as some of the topics covered have long been the preserve of specialists," and "the exposition is solid and successfully clarifies topics that traditionally are difficult to understand by a novice. ... The author shows that he has great ability to lucidly describe complicated ideas in various schools of logic." Handbook of Analysis & its Foundations (paper 1996, CD 1999), Academic Press. If a mathematical object is not constructible, we should say so; the student who is unable to visualize some object will be reassured upon hearing that no one else can visualize it either. S.I.A.M. Review called this book "daring and innovative," and also said:   "Every once in a while a book comes along that so effectively redefines an educational enterprise -- in this case, graduate mathematical training -- and so effectively reexamines the hegemony of ideas prevailing in a discipline -- in this case, mathematical analysis -- that it deserves our careful attention. This is such a book. There is nothing else remotely similar to it in any of the current books on integration, real analysis, set theory, or any other related subject. ..." [review continues]

Other math links (not mine): Kiesler: infinitesimals calculus Mayan apocalypse 12/21/2012 We All Use Math Every Day Hexaflexagons in color p to a million places The singularity nears Math rap on YouTube

Politics Sheehan's number Situational Science cartoon Mooney defending science Defending science in your community My own politics (Silence is complicity. Mathematicians have a special duty to truth, as they should understand best what truth really is. And there's no point in tinkering with the engine to make the boat go faster if it's pointed squarely at an iceberg.)

What is truth?

• A mathematical theory is not to be considered complete until you have made it so clear that you can explain it to the first man whom you meet on the street. -- David Hilbert, mathematician (1862-1943)

• A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. -- Max Planck, physicist (1858-1947)

• If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it? -- Albert Einstein, physicist (1879-1955)

• We used to think that if we knew one, we knew two, because one and one are two. We are finding that we must learn a great deal more about `and'. -- Arthur Eddington, astronomer, physicist, mathematician (1882-1944)

• The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug. -- Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), humorist (1835-1910)

• The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -- Marcel Proust, novelist (1871-1922)

• We don't know who discovered water, but we are certain it wasn't a fish.   -- John Culkin, media theorist (1928-1993)

• However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.   -- Winston Churchill, British prime minister (1874-1965)

• When the facts don't fit the frames, the frames are kept and the facts are ignored. -- It is a common folk theory of progressives that "the facts will set you free." If only you can get all the facts out there in the public eye, then every rational person will reach the right conclusion. It is a vain hope. Human brains just don't work that way. Framing matters. Frames once entrenched are hard to dispel.   -- George Lakoff, linguist (1941- )

• In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.   -- George Orwell, novelist and political commentator (1903-1950)