Tag Archives: math

Hidden Figures

Posted on January 6, 2017 by Samantha from SocialMath

Hidden Figures follows the black women in Langley, Virginia who were computers for NACA and later NASA. The film is sharp, witty and surprisingly optimistic. If you only see 1 movie in 2017, see this one. Continue reading →

Posted in Movies & Books, Social Mathematicians | Tagged Computers, Engineering, Hidden Figures, History, Janelle Monae, Katherine Johnson, Langley, Mary Jackson, math, NASA, Octavia Spencer, Rocket Girls, Segregation, Taraji P. Henson | 3 Comments

Zodiacs and Earth’s Precession

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Samantha from SocialMath

You may have seen recent posts claiming that NASA published some new results on the zodiac signs. Some of the bigger internet publishers, like Distractify, have popularized the story. The story says there is a 13th sign we haven’t seen … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Math, Media, Nature | Tagged Astrology, Astronomy, math, NASA, Precession, Ptolemy, Science, Zodiac | 3 Comments

A Very Mathy Yarn

Posted on September 13, 2016 by Samantha from SocialMath

If you’ve ever seen a hand knitted garment with multiple colors, there are a few ways for a knitter to achieve this. One is to use multiple colors of yarn, and another is to use a specially dyed skein of yarn. But how should a skein of yard be dyed so that the patterns work out aesthetically? How much of each color, exactly? Caterpillar Green Yarns figured that out, and we are going to reverse engineer it. Continue reading →