Math Parties

[Schissel]

I remember the gatherings in the common room of my department as an undergrad- certainly not the whole reason I became a math major, but it helped. (The reason I'm no longer working in math has to do with biographical/personal difficulties with which I won't bore anyone except to say it's another story. But I've been wanting to say that it's good to see a webcomic that doesn't treat mathematics as that "ewww" subject. (No offense intended to anyone...)
Not an oxymoron at all.
Looking forward to future episodes.
- Eric Schissel (never did actually finish more than one research project that mattered to me, though (though I progressed with a second...,) and I was always a horrid teacher. Bother.)

[Schissel]

Nah, the graph theorists are too disconnected (better put them in the spin cocycle and see how they come out in the wash (HEY!),) and don't get me started about ...<P>Erm. (Self-muffle)<P>I ended up going to one of those Research Experiences for Undergraduates things and got into something called Matroid Theory which despite the warped and neologism-sounding name is (well, I thought and think) pretty interesting... (related to graph theory and to matrices, among other things) - the fact that the first article I read about it- by Dominic Walsh?- was easily one of the best-written summary articles I'd ever skimmed, then reread in more detail, didn't hurt one bit. Never underestimate the importance of presentation.<P>(They're also called "independence structures." Ironic or even prescient- this was maybe ten years ago I was studying this after all- given my <I>present</I> politics *mrph* Erm, one self-muffle's enough...)<P>-Eric Schissel