MythMath
Ponder the number of Eskimo words for snow, the tragic fate of lemmings, the golden ratio's mysterious pervasiveness, and other myths of the modern media age. How do such stories become widely accepted "truths"? Get the scoop on the Nobel prize for mathematics, bumblebee modeling, Galois' last hours, young Gauss' quick calculation, and more.
Online Bibliography
Snow
Adler, J., and N. Price. 1991. The melting of a mighty myth. Newsweek (July 22):63.
Brody, J.E. 1988. For snow, the real action begins after it falls. New York Times (Feb. 9).
Crucefix, L. Do the Inuit really have 200 words for "snow"? Ask Us at UofT, University of Toronto.
Derby, S.P. 1994. Eskimo words for snow derby.
Derose, S.J. 2005. "Eskimo" words for snow.
Devlin, K. 1997. Eskimo pi. MAA Online (February).
Hoeg, P. 1993. Smilla's Sense of Snow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Martin, L. 1986. "Eskimo words for snow": A case study in the genesis and decay of an anthropological example. American Anthropologist 89(June):443-444.
Nunberg, G. Snowblind. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 13(No. 1).
Pullum, G.K. 1991. The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax. University of Chicago Press.
Woodbury, A.C. 1991. Counting Eskimo words for snow: A citizen's guide.
Wikipedia: Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Lemmings
Chitty, D. 1996. Do Lemmings Commit Suicide? Beautiful Hypotheses and Ugly Facts. Oxford University Press.
Kruszelnicki, K.S. 2004. Lemmings suicide myth. Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online.
Woodford, R. 2003. Lemming suicide myth: Disney film faked bogus behavior. Alaska Wildlife News (September).
Lemming theory jumps in the lake
Why Files: Why do lemmings commit group suicide?
Urban Legends Reference Pages: White Wilderness
Movie: Lemming (2005)
Wikipedia: Lemming
Gauss
Bell, E.T. 1937. Men of Mathematics. Simon & Schuster.
Dunnington, G.W. 1955. Carl Friedrich Gauss: Titan of Science. Hafner. Reprinted 2004 by the Mathematical Association of America.
Hayes, B. 2007. A mathematical fable revisited. bit-player (May 1).
______. 2006. Gauss’s day of reckoning. American Scientist 94(May-June):200-205.
______. 2006. Summing up. bit-player (April 11).
Peterson, I. 2004. Young Gauss. MAA Online (Oct. 25).
Biography: Carl Friedrich Gauss
Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Ratio
Brown, D. 2003. The Da Vinci Code. Doubleday.
Cooke, T.J. 2006. Do Fibonacci numbers reveal the involvement of geometrical imperatives or biological interactions in phyllotaxis? Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society150:3-24.
Devlin, K. 2007. The myth that will not go away. MAA Online (May).
______. 2004. Cracking the The Da Vinci Code. Discover 25(June).
______. 2004. Good stories, pity they're not true. MAA Online (June).
Elam, K. 2001. Geometry of Design: Studies in Proportion and Composition. Princeton Architectural Press.
Falbo, C. 2005. The golden ratio—A contrary viewpoint. College Mathematics Journal 36(March):123-134.
Klar, A.J.S. 2002. Fibonacci's flowers. Nature 417(June 6):595.
Livio, M. 2002. The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number. Broadway Books.
Markowsky, G. 1992. Misconceptions about the golden ratio. College Mathematics Journal 23(January):2-19.
Naylor, M. 2002. Golden, √2, and pi flowers: A spiral story. Mathematics Magazine 75(June):163-172.
Peterson, I. 2005. Seashell spirals. MAA Online (April 4).
______. 2002. Golden blossoms, pi flowers. MAA Online (Sept. 2).
Sharp, J. 2002. Spirals and the golden section. Nexus Network Journal 4(No. 1).
Wolfram MathWorld: Fibonacci Number
Wolfram MathWorld: Golden Ratio
Phyllotaxis
Smith College
Galileo and Newton
Crease, R.P. 2003. The legend of the leaning tower. Physics World (Feb. 4).
Groleau, R. 2002. The Galileo games. NOVA Online.
Loy, J. 1997. Galileo and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences: Apple Tree
The People's Almanac: Sir Isaac Newton's Theory of Gravity and the Falling Apple
Simon Fraser University: Falling Apple Story
Bumblebee Modeling
Dickinson, M. 2001. Solving the mystery of insect flight. Scientific American (June 17).
Peterson, I. 2004. Flight of the bumblebee. MAA Online (Sept. 13).
Wootton, R.J. 1990. The mechanical design of insect wings. Scientific American (November):114-120.
Zetie, K. 2003. Getting a buzz from flight. Physics Education (November):476.
______. 1996. The strange case of the bumble-bee that flew. Physics World (October):72.
Galois
Bell, E.T. 1937. Men of Mathematics. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Devlin, K. 1996. Of men, mathematics, and myths. MAA Online (August).
Peterson, I. 1999. The Galois story. MAA Online (March 1).
Petsinis, T. 1998. The French Mathematician. Walker.
Rothman, T. 1982. Genius and biographers: The fictionalization of Evariste Galois. American Mathematical Monthly 89(February):84-106.
Biography: Evariste Galois
Nobel Prize
Dunham, W. 1995. For whom Nobel tolls. American Mathematical Monthly 102(December):892.
Garding, L., and L. Hormander. 1985. Why is there no Nobel prize in mathematics? Mathematical Intelligencer 7(No. 3):73-74.
Morrill, J.E. 1995. A Nobel prize in mathematics. American Mathematical Monthly 102(December):888-891.
Ortiz-Lopez, Alex. 1998. Why is there no Nobel in mathematics?
Ross, P. 1995. Why isn't there a Nobel prize in mathematics? Math Horizons (November):9.
Urban Legends Reference Page: The Prize's Rite
Ramsey Theory
Graham, R.L., and J.H. Spencer. 1990. Ramsey theory. Scientific American 263(July):112-117.
Keith, M. 1999. The pi code.
______. 1999. Lady pi.
Peterson, I. 2000. Planes of Budapest. MAA Online (Oct. 2).
______. 2000. The incredible pi code. MAA Online (April 1).
______. 1999. Party games. MAA Online (Dec. 6).
______. 1997. The Jungles of Randomness: A Mathematical Safari. Wiley.
