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Posts published by “Charles Beall”

A conversation with fellow mathematics PhD student Michael Catli

To close out the semester, here is a conversation I had with fellow math PhD student Michael Catli. Michael and I both started the PhD in Fall 2023, although I knew him slightly before that, via a mutual friend at Seton Hall University, where Michael completed his undergraduate studies.

Making waves: some new mathematical discoveries in fluid dynamics

Many of us at Stevens have taken, are taking, or will take a course that involves fluid dynamics. These courses tend to be on the more challenging end, because fluids can behave in immensely complex ways, and it’s difficult even experimentally to understand this behavior, let alone build mathematical models to govern it or computational techniques to simulate it.

Thoughts on whether mathematics is invented or discovered

From the earliest days, mathematics has typically received a hallowed treatment from those who have studied it. Plato, who studied a special set of five three-dimensional shapes now known as the Platonic solids, wrote that one of these, the dodecahedron, was used by the gods “for arranging the constellations on the whole of heaven.”

What can Kurt Gödel teach us about politics?

This past week, I began reading The Maniac, a fictionalized biography of John von Neumann. While von Neumann is perhaps lesser known than some of his contemporaries — Albert Einstein, J.

Mathematics in a (more) dangerous time

Following the harrowing attacks by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, as Israel’s violent military response in Gaza began in earnest, I wrote a For Math’s Sake column describing the difficulties of doing math in dangerous times, and also, the further difficulties math can present in these times.