Math in the News
Data and Power
Popular Science published a special issue that looks at the transformative effects of the data deluge on our lives and how we got there. Coincidentally, “Mathematics, Statistics, and the Data Deluge” is the theme of the 2012 Mathematics Awareness Month.
The “Data is Power” issue was published in November 2011 and features the following highlights:
“The Santa Cruz Experiment: Can a City’s Crime be Predicted and Prevented?”: A discussion of George Mohler’s development of an algorithm that uses mapping and statistics to track crime.
“This Man Could Rule the World”: The history of the development of network theory from Euler to Erdös to Albert-László Barabási and the impact recent findings have on a wide range of issues including health, technology, and population movement.
“Timeline: The Advance of the Data Civilization”: A photo gallery marking important events in the 22,000-year history of data.
“The Unsplittable Bit”: James Gleick writes about the development of information theory.
The online version of the issue is available here.
Mathematics Awareness Month is held each year in April. Its goal is to increase public understanding of and appreciation for mathematics. Look for announcements related to the 2012 Mathematics Awareness Month here.