March 24, 2006

  • Women's History Month continues...


    Activity

    From the New York Times
     on the First of May, 1999:

    Combinatorics in higher mathematics is the study of permutations and
    combinations of elements in finite sets.  In an interview with M.I.T.
    News     last year, [Gian-Carlo Rota (pdf)] gave this definition of his field of study:

    "Combinatorics is putting different-colored marbles in
    different-colored boxes, seeing how many ways you can divide them. I
    could rephrase it in Wall Street terms, but it's really just about
    marbles and boxes, putting things in sets.''

    Indeed, Dr. Rota added, some of his best students go to Wall Street.
    "It turns out that the best financial analysts are either
    mathematicians or theoretical physicists," he said.

    Rota graduated from
    Princeton University in 1953.

    Some may prefer the following
    marbles and boxes:

    The image “http://www.log24.com/log/pix06/060324-Activity.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

    Related material:
    Oct. 21, 2002,
    April 30, 2005.