Monthly Archive

I am in Ankara visiting my friends and colleagues at METU, and shamelesly reproduce chunks of my post about my previous visit. This is METU’s unofficial emblem:

It is derived from a sculpture Tree of Science by Turkish sculptor Tamer Basoglu; it marks the main entrance to the campus:

However, the sculpture was designed in 1965 as a monument to Ataturk, but came second in the official competition. The sculptor himself wrote:

This monument is the first example in Turkey signifying Atatürk’s revolutionary principles in an abstract way. The flourishing of Atatürk’s principles in a devastated Anatolian city during war times is expressed in this piece of work, as rooted firmly on strong grounds and growing fast like the mushroom of the atom bomb. Every outward projection on the sculpture symbolizes one of the revolutionary principles of Atatürk.

However, the interpretation as a Tree of Science, with all sciences, in all their diversity and unity, growing from the same root of knowledge, also works nicely. Even more important is the obvious reference to pre-Hittite and Hittite’s tradition in art; it roots the modern Turkish science in the millenia old tradition of Anatolian civilisations. For comparison, here is a famous Bronze Age figurine from the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations:

and a Hittite sculpture:

And here is my favorite portrait of Ataturk:

I am here to give a talk Elementary mathematics as seen by a mathematician, based on a couple of chapters from my book.

A very useful article about spotting differences between the celebrated Helvetica and tiresome Arial. One of many illustrations:

This was the first book that I read in my life:

Moreover, it was the book that had taught me to read, and it remains the most powerful intellectual experience of my life. The story deserves to be told because it provides the best illustration of the advantages of synthetic phonics. (Of course, Russian alphabet is more phonetic than English, which makes synthetic phonics method much easier to use; but I will tell more about that and about comparison between synthetic and analytic phonics in later posts).

By age of 5 or 6, I somehow learned alphabet — mostly by asking my parents and my brothers (who were at the time about 14-15 and 10 -11 years old). Crucially, my mother was an elementary school teacher and for that reason, I believe, letters were explained to me by corresponding sounds, not by their names. No-one, however, taught me to read in any systematic way. For some time the relation between letters on paper and words remained a complete mystery for me. When my brother read me a book, I was very suspicious and occasionally complained to my parents that he was inventing the words.

Then one day I was sitting in a quite corner with Vladimir Suteev’s book Под грибом. Looking and the picture of a mushroom (”гриб” in Russian) I suddenly realised that the letters П, О, Д, Г, Р, И, Б, О, М on the cover could mean only “Под грибом”, “Under a mushroom“, and nothing else. I remember I was surprised by my discovery and decided to check. Under closer examination, it was still П-О-Д Г-Р-И-Б-О-М.

“So what how they were doing that” - thought I for myself, then opened the book and read it in one go, from the beginning to the end. Then I went to the kitchen to report my progress to my mother. “Mom” - said I, -”I red a book”. “Really?” - said my Mom without any sign of surprise. To prove my point, I read the book to her aloud.

Next day, I remember, I went to the village library and enrolled as a borrower.

Many years later, I taught my children to read using the same approach –The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish was improvised by me for that very purpose. The most bizarre turn of the story, of course, is that my daughter, when she came to USA at the age 5, taught herself to read in English using analytic phonics method — I’ll write about that experience in another post.

Text of Suteev’s book follows:

ПОД ГРИБОМ

Как то раз застал Муравья сильный дождь. Куда спрятаться? Увидел Муравей на полянке маленький грибок, добежал до него и спрятался под его шляпкой.

Сидит под грибом - дождь пережидает. А дождь идет все сильнее…

Ползет к грибу мокрая Бабочка: - Муравей, Муравей, пусти меня под грибок! Промокла я - летать не могу!

- Куда же я пущу тебя? - говорит Муравей. - Я один тут кое-как уместился.

- Ничего! В тесноте , да не в обиде. Пустил Муравей Бабочку под грибок.

А дождь еще сильнее идет …Бежит мимо Мышка : - Пустите меня под грибок! Вода с меня ручьем течет.

- Куда же мы тебя пустим? Тут и места нет. - Потеснитесь немножко! Потеснились - пустили Мышку под грибок. А дождь все льет и не перестает…

Мимо гриба Воробей скачет и плачет: - Намокли перышки, устали крылышки! Пустите меня под грибок обсохнуть, отдохнуть, дождик переждать!

- Тут места нет. -Подвиньтесь пожалуйста! - Ладно. Подвинулись нашлось Воробью место.

А тут Заяц на полянку выскочил, увидел грибок. - Спрячьте, - кричит, -спасите! За мной Лиса гонится!

- Жалко Зайца, - говорит Муравей. - Давайте еще потеснимся.

Только спрятали Зайца, Лиса прибежала .- Зайца не видели? - спрашивает. - Не видели. Подошла Лиса поближе, понюхала: - Не тут ли он спрятался?

- Где ему тут спрятаться! Махнула Лиса хвостом и ушла.

К тому времени дождик прошел- солнышко выглянуло. Вылезли все из - под гриба - радуются . Муравей задумался и говорит: - Как же так? Раньше мне одному под грибом тесно было, а теперь всем пятерым место нашлось!

- Ква- ха-ха! Ква-ха-ха! - засмеялся кто-то. Все посмотрели: на шляпке гриба сидит Лягушка и хохочет: - Эх, вы! Гриб- то…

Не досказала и ускакала. Посмотрели все на гриб и тут догадались, почему сначала одному под грибом тесно было, а потом и пятерым место нашлось. А вы догадались?

One of the best studies of a mathematician in world art:

Diego Rivera. The Mathematician. 1918.
Oil on canvas. Museo Dolores Olmedo Patino, Mexico City, Mexico.

Among Serban Chelariu’s paintings, there are a few with titles like Absicissa Coordinate Applicate, Crucified Cartesian Man, and even The Mathematician.

Never in my life I had a better piece of pork than at The Appletree Inn in Marton, North Yorkshire. Their Confit Belly of Pork with Mustard Mash & Apple Sauce was subtle, succulent, and indescribably flavoursome. As a starter, a Whitby Crab Fishcake with Sweet Chili Sauce & Crème Fraiche was a quite consonant prelude to the main course.

The place is quite popular and should normally be quite busy, a booking is recommended. Luckily, I happened to be there on the night of the rugby final, and the pub, with no TV, was half empty. Even emptier were moonlit roads of Yorkshire on my way home.

And yes, they collect money for a campaign against hunger in the world: “Fight Hunger — Eat Out”.

Three cups of cappuccino at Flat White Espresso Bar (17 Berwick Street, W1F 0PT, 020 7734 4384); I wrote about it in my post Best milkshake, best cappuccino in London.

An unusually warm Autumn resulted in foxes’ behaviour shifting into the Spring mode: they started to sunbath in my garden.

You can easily judge what kind of gardener I am …

On request from my daughter, I place here my version of Pushkin’s The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish, writen either for her or her brother when they were about 5 or 6. It is interesting as an exmple of phonetics-based approach to teaching of reading.

A colleague of mine asked me regarding a phrase in my Manifesto,

Teaching is not a science, it is an art, and should be treated as such

“What is a science, and what is an art?”

What follows is my slightly modified response to him.

Manifesto is a political text, and therefore it uses nomination (simple naming of things, or giving examples) rather than definitions. Therefore a possible answer is:

Opera is art.
Pottery is a craft.
Physics is a science.

Of course, the boundaries between the three is sometimes hard to draw. Yesterday I visited Crafting Beauty exhibition at the British Museum, I had a chance to see an example of a fusion of art and craft.

Kuroda Tatsuaki (1904-82), Ornamental Box in a Flowering Design, about 1957

Maeta Akihiro, Jar with faceted body, 1996.

Osumi Yukie, Vase ‘Sea Breeze’, 1986

Nakagawa Mamoru, Vase with striped design, 1988

Most artists represented at the exhibition are designated as “Living National Treasures”; this concept is so remarkable that deserve explanation.

Since 1950, Japanese law protects not only tangible cultural assets (historical buildings, monuments, landscapes, etc.) but also certain intangible cultural assets, such as performance skills in traditional theater and craft techniques. Holders of these skills are known as “Living National Treasures”. The exhibtion in the British Museum was organised by the Agency for Cultural Affairs which designates new holders of the title records their craft techniques and exhibit their works.

Britain should adopt this approach and preserve dying teaching skills in mathematics on par with Morris dancing.

On my trip to London yesterday, my hosts took me for lunch to Ed’s Easy Diner, a mock-American eatery at 12 Moor Street and Old Compton Road, W1D 5NG, 020 7434 4439. A bison burger was mediocre, but banana and peanut butter milkshake, the purpose of our visit, was astonishing: rich, thick, full of subtle flavour.

Writing letters of reference for former students expands horizons and makes one aware of a suprising range of business activiries in the wider world outside the academia. But could you believe in the existence of a transnational group with this logo?

And yes, it appears to faithfully reflect the proud history of the group and the current line of business of at least some of its subsidiaries. In particular, they provide Human Resources services:

• Tailored contracts providing you with the ‘legal authority’ to overcome contentious issues as poor performance, sickness, absenteeism, redundancy as well as protection from discrimination claims
• Expert team to support all your HR needs
• Round the clock 24 hour support

Anyone who fight with monsters should take care that he does not in the process become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes back into you. — Nietzsche

(Graffiti in a Finglands Route 42 bus, Manchester)

Denis Lomas wrote about my book:

A picture of a hummingbird in flight might be suitable for the cover.

Something like this one, perhaps:

Source: Wikimedia Commons

This is what I listen to when I drive around Manchester.

Tan Hill Inn, famous for being the most remote pub in England, overwhelms an incidental visitor like me by its relaxed ambience: children cuddling with dogs in front of a fireplace, banjo-playing American tourists, excellent food served in portions appropriate for bikers and hikers.

And they have webcam!