Response 418

  • Fibonacci Primes

    The Fibonacci series is often mentioned so most people are probably familiar with it. It starts with 0, 1, … and all other numbers are obtained by taking the sum of the 2 preceding numbers in the series so we get : 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, … and so on. The first 2 numbers are squares of a natural number : 0 = 02 and 1 = 12. In 1964 the mathematician J.H.E. Cohn proved that there is only 1 other number in the series that is a square of a…

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  • De architecten van ASML, René Raaijmakers (ISBN 978-9082579826, Techwatch Books)

    Ik kwam een verwijzing naar dit boek tegen op het LinkedIn kanaal van ASML. Aanleiding was de Chinese vertaling van dit boek. Ik had hiervoor al met veel plezier Natlab gelezen dus was de beslissing om dit boek te kopen en te lezen snel genomen. En ik heb er zeker geen spijt van gehad. De 640 pagina’s zijn voorbij gevlogen. In de 2 weken van de kerstvakantie was het boek uit. Een aantal hoofdstukken over de ontwikkeling van de eerste stepper op het natlab zijn overgenomen uit het boek Natlab. Dit boek gaat verder in detail in over hoe Philips…

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    De architecten van ASML, René Raaijmakers (ISBN 978-9082579826, Techwatch Books)

  • The Taking of the Pelham 123 (2009)

    After watching the movie from 1974 I naturally also had to see this modern adaptation from 2009. It start Denzel Washington as luitenant Garber and John Travolta as the criminal with the plan to hijack the subway. Most of the story is the same although there is an additional twist with Garber being suspected of having taken a bribe while selecting a new train. That makes him suspicious and everyone has to wonder if he is not in with the criminals. Obviously this only works when you watch the first time. It also adds a little drama to the main…

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    The Taking of the Pelham 123 (2009)

  • Curious Equations (1)

    Came across this equation. Can be proven by simply calculating both sides. (t – 8)3 + (t – 1)3 + (t + 1)3 + (t + 8)3 = (t – 7)3 + (t – 4)3 + (t + 4)3 + (t + 7)3

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  • Delen door 2

    Een man vraagt aan een goochelaar wat zijn specialiteit is. “Meisjes doormidden zagen”, is het antwoord. “Dat is moeilijk zeker ?” “Helemaal niet, ik kon het als kind al.” “Heb je dan zusters ?” “Jawel, drieënhalf.”

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  • A History of Pi, Petr Beckmann (ISBN 978-0312381851, St Martin’s Press)

    (a history of) Pi first came out in 1970 and the author was a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Colorado. Beckmann fled Czechoslovakia at the age of 14 to escape the Nazis. In the introduction Beckmann states that he could write his own personal history of pi without having to worry about canonical viewpoints held by historians and mathematicians. The book is therefor not a rigorous historical and/or mathematical account of the history of pi. Rather it is an eclectic trip through time making stopping at societies where the knowledge of advanced. It starts with several pre…

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    A History of Pi, Petr Beckmann (ISBN 978-0312381851, St Martin’s Press)

  • Blaise Logic

    “I have made this letter longer than usual because I lacked the time to make it short.”  ― Blaise Pascal

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  • The Taking of the Pelham 123 (1974)

    As the title suggests this is about the 1974 version of The Taking of the Pelham 123. Despite being almost 50 years old the movie is still more than enjoyable. It stars Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau as the bad guy and the good guy respectively in the simple plot of 4 gangsters hijacking a NYC subway and holding the passengers hostage for ransom. Most of the movie takes place on the subway car and in the subway control center following how the negotiations between gangsters and the city evolve. New York has to pay 1 million dollars to be…

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    The Taking of the Pelham 123 (1974)

  • Privileged Men

    If today someone calls you privileged it may well be intended as an accusation or an insult. Nothing new and unfortunately seldom done with the literary flair of George Bernard Shaw who managed to ‘insult’ a couple of less privileged professions in the same go. “Greek scholars are privileged men. Few of them know Greek and none of them know anything else but their position is unchallengeable. Other languages are the qualifications of waiters and commercial travellers.” ― George Bernard Shaw

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  • Royal Roads

    “O King, through the country, there are royal roads and roads for common citizens, but in geometry there is one road for all.” Menaechmus (4th century BC) in answer to his pupil Alexander the Great asking for a shortcut to geometry.

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