MATH NERDITY
Some useful (and possibly not useful) resources on mathematical / theoretical computer science.
- Compendium of NP Optimization Problems
- Skiena's Algorithm Design Manual
- the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences
- tree automata
EDUCATION
Some things that have shaped what I think education is about.
- the Education of the Philosopher-Kings, from Plato's Republic
- John Henry Newman, The Idea of a University
- Prof Robert Reich on the future of public higher education
- the Tomorrow's Professor mailing list
PEOPLE
Some (now dead) thinkers I admire.
- Alan Turing (here or here): code-breaker, founder of computer science, honest man
- Archimedes: citizen of Syracuse probably killed by a Roman soldier because he wanted to finish a proof
- Pierre de Fermat: lawyer and parliamentarian who did maths for the fun of it, setter of puzzles
- Evariste Galois: political hothead, duellist over love
- Marie-Sophie Germain and Srinivasa Aiyangar Ramanujan: autodidacts
- Andre Weil: conscientious objector ("My mathematics work is proceeding beyond my wildest hopes, and I am even a bit worried - if it is only in prison that I work so well, will I have to arrange to spend two or three months locked up every year?"), Poldavian
- Desiderius Erasmus: humanist, theologian, classical scholar
LANGUAGES
Some tutorials for various languages.
LIFE
A selection of miscellaneous things that I'm keen on.
- manga: Cowboy Bebop, Great Teacher Onizuka, Banana Fish
- books: most things by Ursula Le Guin, Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien), Possession (A.S. Byatt), Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf ("David Madsen"), Guns Germs and Steel (Jared Diamond), The Iliad (Homer), The Nibelungenlied (anon), The Epic of Gilgamesh (anon) [and in general Project Gutenberg, whose goal is to make free electronic copies of old texts]
- games: bridge, Civilization IV + V, Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age (prefer Origins, but can live with II)
- sport: squash, badminton
- other: the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby