Steven Strogatz
Steven Strogatz
Steven Henry Strogatzis an American mathematician and the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cornell University. He is known for his work on non-linear systems, including contributions to the study of synchronization in dynamical systems, for his research in a variety of areas of applied mathematics, including mathematical biology and complex network theory, and for his outreach work in the public communication of mathematics. He has an Erdős–Bacon number of 4...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMathematician
Date of Birth13 August 1959
CountryUnited States of America
We think our theory will provide some guidance to help engineers avoid the problem.
That's the phenomenon. Why did they all start moving in step? They did it unconsciously. That is what nobody had thought about and engineers did not anticipate.
The phenomenon was that people who were walking at random, at their own favorite speed, not organized in any way, spontaneously synchronized, ... That's the phenomenon. Why did they all start moving in step? They did it unconsciously. That is what nobody had thought about and engineers did not anticipate.
You can get a certain amount of pleasure as a mathematical spectator, reading and watching some of the most beautiful arguments that have been created in the history of humanity. But that's too passive.
A lot of people were blaming it on the beautiful innovative structure, the design of the Millennium Bridge itself, which was a radical design. But that is not true.
It is always very striking and almost spooky because it is like order coming out of chaos.
Looking at numbers as groups of rocks may seem unusual, but actually it's as old as math itself. The word "calculate" reflects that legacy - it comes from the Latin word calculus, meaning a pebble used for counting. To enjoy working with numbers you don't have to be Einstein (German for "one stone"), but it might help to have rocks in your head.
I loved this smart, funny, big-hearted novel. As hilarious and wise as early Philip Roth, The Mathematician's Shiva will delight and move you.
Change is most sluggish at the extremes precisely because the derivative is zero there.
One of the pleasures of looking at the world through mathematical eyes is that you can see certain patterns that would otherwise be hidden.
When you create something new, you're breaking tradition - which is an act of defiance.
When you love a problem, its contours, obstacles and resistances are all just part of its character.
The frequencies of the notes in a scale—do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do—sound to us like they’re rising in equal steps. But objectively their vibrational frequencies are rising by equal multiples. We perceive pitch logarithmically.
Logic leaves us no choice. In that sense, math always involves both invention and discovery: we invent the concepts but discover their consequences. … in mathematics our freedom lies in the questions we ask – and in how we pursue them – but not in the answers awaiting us.