Why are Pencils Yellow?

"Hardtmuth settled on yellow to communicate the graphite’s geographical origins, while also linking its product to the long-held Chinese associations of royalty, and therefore superiority." https://t.co/Mn1LjGRbYQ

— Samuel Arbesman (@arbesman) October 31, 2018

E. L. Ince and the State of Differential Equations in England in 1926

E. L. Ince, being snarky about the state of the study of differential equations in England, in the preface of his classic 1926 book on the subject. pic.twitter.com/nLPXLv5mNt

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) October 29, 2018

Dodgers Win Game 3 of the World Series 3–2 in 18 Innings!

Wow!

It's a great day for a ball game. Let's play two!

Many records were set, including longest postseason game (by time) and longest World Series game (by both inning and time). It tied the record for most innings in a postseason game.

(We're still down 2 games to 1, so we have an uphill climb. But today was really exciting. Let's see what tomorrow brings!)

812 Double Pendulums with Different Initial Conditions

This is what 812 double pendulums with different initial conditions look like https://t.co/jklEvfb5EI | https://t.co/ctsPCmFfEJ pic.twitter.com/jMar6rlRma

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) October 26, 2018

Spatial and Information Efficiency in Price Lists

Everything's clear, right?

theres gotta be a better way to convey this information pic.twitter.com/pHEswDU0TC

— sean (@seanposting) October 21, 2018

(Tip of the cap to Heather Zinn Brooks.)

"Network Science In Education: Transformational Approaches in Teaching and Learning"

Our book on network science in education just came out. Here are some details.

Title: Network Science In Education: Transformational Approaches in Teaching and Learning

Editors: Catherine B. Cramer, Mason A. Porter, Hiroki Sayama, Lori Sheetz, and Stephen Miles Uzzo

The book also includes my chapter about developing my undergraduate mathematics course about networks.

Which Headline Do You Prefer?

Seen in the wild: @sfchronicle using two different headlines for the same article. pic.twitter.com/xPhbvbAMzV

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) October 14, 2018

Using a 'Sort' Function to Order the Chicken and the Egg

Wel that settles that. 😂 pic.twitter.com/0xHvS8Dply

— allie, 🎃 the spookiest 👻 transbian 💀 (@aBagorn) October 14, 2018

(I saw this through a 'like' by Chris Danforth on Twitter.)

A Map of Every Building in America

Wow!

"A MAP OF EVERY
BUILDING IN AMERICA" RT @JenLucPiquant @jswatz: Here is the online version of the big, weird, fun thing I was telling you about yesterday... I loved working on this. https://t.co/loRUJhGJJo

— Marc Abrahams (@MarcAbrahams) October 12, 2018

A Really Fancy Visual Illusion

Wow!

Amazing motion illusion.
V5 is firing due to V4 saturation! pic.twitter.com/oNgxRXXN3f

— Alice Proverbio (@AliceProverbio) October 12, 2018

Amazing Visual Illusion: A Dynamic Müller–Lyer Illusion

This visual illusion is amazing. It is a dynamic Müller–Lyer illusion.

This is probably the best illusion I've ever seen. The blue and red lines are all the same length; none is moving or changing size, and they’re all at the same level. Only the arrowheads are moving. https://t.co/bDyeOKXgbC pic.twitter.com/V6KrmLkiPr

— Steve Stewart-Williams (@SteveStuWill) October 4, 2018

(Tip of the cap to Marcel Salathe.)

Look at Me, I'm 𝞧 sub d...

I am going to have a field day for puns with this new (for me) nugget of information...

Sooo, Max Born, who gave us the statistical interpretation of the quantum mechanical wavefunction, is the grandfather of Olivia Newton-John @olivianj of Grease fame. How did I not know this.

— Michelle Kuchera (@MKizzyy) October 3, 2018

How Many First-Authored Papers in "Leading" Journals Does One Need to be Hired as an Assistant Professor?

This is in ecology, but we can think of analogous exercises for mathematics and physics (including also with numbers of citations of papers at the time of being hired).

How many first-authored papers in “leading” journals does an ecologist need to be hired as a tenure-track asst. prof at an R1 university? Not nearly as many as most ecologists think. https://t.co/qpfozljVD0 pic.twitter.com/VrcfEbTjdh

— Dynamic Ecology (@DynamicEcology) October 2, 2018

FYI: I have seen several things on this blog over the years that are relevant far beyond their core ecology audience, so it's worth a look beyond this post.

Update: It's also not required to have lots of citations to get a top faculty job. It would be good to see a distribution of what people have had in practice. (The number of citations listed by Google Scholar for me for 2006 is 53.)

Dodgers Win 6th Straight National League West Division Title!

The Dodgers won the game-163 tie-breaker with the Colorado Rockies to win their 6th straight National League West division title!

We face the Atlanta Braves in one of the two National League Division Series starting on Thursday. Go Dodgers!