skip to main content

The Garden Party

For our resident mathmaticians

17 years ago

Michael or Kathy D., I just read in the Omaha World-Herald that the "poincaire conjecture " had been solved by a genius type Rusian mathmatician. Is there any way a layman could understand what that is? Really takes a load of my shoulders that it is finally solved.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

endorphinjunkie
17 years ago
Topology is my weak point. I'll have to go read up on it.
suzanne_il
17 years ago
I did go read up on topology and now my head is spinning!
Related Discussions
Things we do for our pond and its residents...
Q
Comments (13)
Shade tarps may be the answer I will need until I get the pergola. I will have to come up with a nicer looking set of poles to attach it, as t-posts aren't as pretty, although it works. Today the air temps rose to 108 degrees. Very hot and made me very glad I put up the tarp. When I started digging the pond last year, I had to cut down a tall tree that was growing just a couple feet behind the t-post you see in the first picture. I miss the tree itself, but do not miss the mess it would have made and I am not running the risk of having the liner punched through by roots. Thanks for all the great posts above and I appreciate the tips.
...See More
Our Resident Osprey...
Q
Comments (4)
We were in St. Augustine, FL last year. We golfed at a course that had lots of ponds and a resident Oprey. It had a nest with 2 babies on top of a light pole next to the first hole of the course. I spotted it diving into the water to get dinner. Cool looking birds!
...See More
Residing 1960 Cape- Color Help
Q
Comments (46)
a) Absolutely have him move them! Or can he order the slightly smaller ones that you would like? (I understand, whenever I see shutters improperly sized (aka, almost everywhere) it makes me cringe). If it bugs you it will probably always bug you so might as well have it fixed! Make sure he caulks the holes made in the siding so you don't have any weaknesses. b) It depends...does he willingly do the dishes??? :) c) No no! Push to the end!!! (we drooped at the end of our kitchen and we still dont' have baseboards :) Bonus) Absolutely paint paint! I'm a vote for deep red or really deep purple (we have it and I LOVE it, even DH loves it :) and it looks really beautiful with greys...you could tie it in with lavender colored flowers maybe... I LOVE how your house is turning out, I was a little skeptical of removing the shakes but it really is looking fabulous! Your house looks like the exact style and size of mine, do you mind my asking how much your siding quote was? I am in Illinois so it would probably be different anyway but I was just curious :) From house just a thought :)
...See More
Need help with ideas of how to re-side our new house
Q
Comments (34)
I wouldn't call this a real Tudor, more a mish-mosh with some Tudor trim. That is why it doesn't look "right" to you (or me). Half-hearted gables, the door is wrong and lacks importance, it altogther seems not graceful. If you don't want to pull off the faux half-timbers, you could paint them out -- make them fade into the overall siding. You need to decide which direction you want to go -- I think there might be things you could do to "fix" the Tudor look to an extent -- changing the dark paint in the gables would be a start, maybe adding another texure (stone or brick) around the door area. As many have mentioned above, the right color scheme can make a huge difference. My inclination would to go in a direction that might suit the overall shape of the house a bit better though. Your roof's shade of brown is not a bad one and can work with several greens, blues, reds and, of course, neutrals including a few grays. You are lucky that you can paint which gives you infinite color choices. If you don't want the color to pop too much because you are close to the street, choose a muted tone. There are lots of gray- blues, blue-grays, green-grays that would lighten up the house but not be too strong.
...See More
gandle
Original Author
17 years ago
I suspect that there is no layman explanation. Looked it up on googol and I'm sorry I did.
endorphinjunkie
17 years ago
Common terminology is so lacking in some areas of mathematics. And topology uses words that have an entirely different meaning for a mathematician than it does for a non-mathematician. Take the word manifold. Topology can be considered a sub grouping of multi dimensional geometry. You know, a space that might have 3, 4, 5, or more dimension. Most people have been taught that we live in a 3 dimensional world. We don't, we just aren't equiped to "see" the higher dimension. Mathematical dimensions, not science fiction dimensions. Different animals, they are. Solid shapes that can be transformed into a different shape without damage or breaks to the material is the subject of topology. Topology rarely deals in pure numbers. That's why a lot of mathematicians have a problem with studying it. It's like in high school geometry when you did proofs. You didn't do it with numbers, you did it with using specialized language, and symbols that were beyond Greek. Topology carries this concept further, to the nth degree, so to speak.

Some of you may now realize why I describe math as a language.

Sorry if I haven't answered about the PoincarÃ© conjecture. I don't know.

Wednesdays are my true 9-to-9 days this semester. Didn't think it would leave me so tired.

0

Sponsored

More Discussions

NYT Connections word game

485