Sunday, June 7, 2009

Support Simon Singh and Scientific Debate

Simon Singh has been sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association. Simon is an author, journalist, and TV producer who works to popularize math and science. I had the opportunity to hear Simon speak about an earlier book on the Big Bang at Keble College, Oxford. Simon wrote a more recent book on alternative medicine and suggests that there is no evidence for the efficacy of chiropractic treatments for asthma, ear infections, and other infant conditions. British Libel laws are more strict than those in the U.S. and this scientific debate has unbelievably been construed as a form of libel. Read more about the dispute and sign the petition here.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Erdős Number

My current Erdős number is 4. There are several paths of length 3 from my M.Sc. advisor, Joël Ouaknine, to Paul Erdős. The path currently returned by the AMS Collaboration Distance Calculator is:

  • Murray Stokely coauthored with Joël Ouaknine
  • Joël Ouaknine coauthored with A. W. Roscoe
  • A. W. Roscoe coauthored with Mary Ellen Rudin
  • Mary Ellen Rudin coauthored with Paul Erdős