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Science in the papers (well, one, anyway)

While munching my apple at lunchtime today, I discovered that the Guardian have started a new regular column on the website from four well-known science popularisers, including Simon Singh and PZ Myers. Awesome. How many other papers have a science blog? (They even have a page dedicated to physics-related news.)

The first article is by Simon Singh and is rather bizarrely about mathematics and football. Specifically, the naming of of two symmetry groups after Spurs players. Singh tells us that the naming of these groups is offered by Oxford professor Marcus Du Sautoy who uses the scheme as a fund-raiser for a charity called Common Hope (unlike some "name a star" schemes I've seen around which tend to be very dishonest about what you're actually getting in return for your cash). It seems that these two particular symmetry groups have been named by Tony Mann, a mathematician at the University of Greenwich in South London. Why? Apparently, because Du Sautoy is an Arsenal fan, and Mann enjoys winding him up. Curiously, if you look down the list of requests, Mann has also requested one be named "For Vanilla Beer - birthday 4 July". Who says mathematicians don't have a sense of humour?!

Entertaining, but a bit lacking in substance to be honest.

Posted by Megan on Wednesday 04th Mar 2009 (05:34 UTC) | Add a comment | Permalink

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