Steven Strogatz
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Steven Strogatz

Essays

Steven Strogatz

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Essays

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  • NY Times |
  • Me, Myself and Math Series |
  • Elements of Math Series
August 31, 2022

How Isaac Newton Discovered the Binomial Power Series→

August 31, 2022/ Steven Strogatz
How Isaac Newton Discovered the Binomial Power Series

Rethinking questions and chasing patterns led Newton to find the connection between curves and infinite sums.
— Quanta Magazine, August 31, 2022

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August 31, 2022/ Steven Strogatz/ /Source
essay, 2022
August 31, 2022

How Infinite Series Reveal the Unity of Mathematics→

August 31, 2022/ Steven Strogatz
How Infinite Series Reveal the Unity of Mathematics

Infinite sums are among the most underrated yet powerful concepts in mathematics, capable of linking concepts across math’s vast web.
— Quanta Magazine, January 24, 2022

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August 31, 2022/ Steven Strogatz/ /Source
2022, essay
June 22, 2021

Who's Afraid of Big Numbers?→

June 22, 2021/ Steven Strogatz
Who's Afraid of Big Numbers?

Pretty much everyone. But it doesn’t have to be that way, two mathematicians contend.
-The New York Times, June 17, 2021

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June 22, 2021/ Steven Strogatz/ /Source
2021, essay, op-ed
op ed, NYT
March 01, 2021

From a Swinging Chandelier to Global Positioning Systems (PDF)→

March 01, 2021/ Steven Strogatz
From a Swinging Chandelier to Global Positioning Systems (PDF)

Calculus has unraveled mysteries that puzzled scientists for centuries, and it has led to technologies they never would have imagined.
— American Scientist, March-April, 2021

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March 01, 2021/ Steven Strogatz/ /Source
2021, essay
November 19, 2019

Newton Schools Leibniz about Power Series→

November 19, 2019/ Steven Strogatz
Newton	Schools Leibniz about Power Series

Appendix 2 (unpublished) from Infinite Powers

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November 19, 2019/ Steven Strogatz/ /Source
2019, essay
November 19, 2019

How Fermat Integrated x^n→

November 19, 2019/ Steven Strogatz
How Fermat Integrated x^n

Appendix 1 (unpublished) from Infinite Powers

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November 19, 2019/ Steven Strogatz/ /Source
2019, essay
November 11, 2019

The Mathematics of Supercoiled DNA →

November 11, 2019/ Steven Strogatz
The Mathematics of Supercoiled DNA

Senior Thesis, Princeton University (1980)

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November 11, 2019/ Steven Strogatz/ /Source
essay, 1980
September 18, 2019

John Bardeen: The Greatest Physicist You (Probably) Never Heard Of→

September 18, 2019/ Steven Strogatz
John Bardeen: The Greatest Physicist You (Probably) Never Heard Of

He might have won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1956 and 1972, but the man who invented the transistor and solved superconductivity is far from a household name.
- BBC Science Focus, September 18, 2019

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September 18, 2019/ Steven Strogatz/ /Source
2019, essay
August 05, 2019

That Vexing Math Equation? Here’s an Addition→

August 05, 2019/ Steven Strogatz
That Vexing Math Equation? Here’s an Addition

The confusion (likely intentional) boiled down to a discrepancy between the math rules used in grade school and in high school.
-The New York Times, August 5, 2019

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August 05, 2019/ Steven Strogatz/ /Source
2019, op-ed
op ed, NYT
August 02, 2019

The Math Equation That Tried to Stump the Internet→

August 02, 2019/ Steven Strogatz
The Math Equation That Tried to Stump the Internet

Sometimes BODMAS is just PEMDAS by another name. And no, the answer is not 100.
- The New York Times, August 2, 2019

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August 02, 2019/ Steven Strogatz/ /Source
op-ed, 2019
op ed, NYT
April 01, 2019

How Calculus Was the Unsung Hero in the Fight against HIV→

April 01, 2019/ Steven Strogatz
How Calculus Was the Unsung Hero in the Fight against HIV

The story of a differential equation and a medical breakthrough.
- Scientific American, April 1, 2019

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April 01, 2019/ Steven Strogatz/ /Source
essay, 2019
March 15, 2019

Pi Day: How One Irrational Number Made Us Modern→

March 15, 2019/ ScienceSites
Pi Day: How One Irrational Number Made Us Modern

The famous mathematical ratio, estimated to more than 22 trillion digits (and counting), is the perfect symbol for our species’ long effort to tame infinity.
- The New York Times, March 14, 2019

Read More
March 15, 2019/ ScienceSites/ /Source
op-ed, 2019
op ed, NYT
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Steven Strogatz

Speaking Schedule

In the News

Press
Four Cornell Professors Elected to National Academy of Sciences

- Cornell Chronicle
May 1, 2024

Mathematician Steven Strogatz Receives National Award for Science Communication

- Cornell Chronicle
November 21, 2023

National Academies Announce 2023 Recipients of Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications

- National Academies
November 2, 2023

New Proof Shows That ‘Expander’ Graphs Synchronize

- Quanta Magazine
July 24, 2023

The Beautiful Cover of the Japanese edition of The Calculus of Friendship

- Abakcus
June 14, 2023

$5M Gift Establishes A&S Outreach Professorship

- Cornell Chronicle
May 31, 2023

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘A Trip to Infinity’ on Netflix, a Mind-Boggling Documentary About Everything We Don’t Know About Everything

- Decider.com
September 26, 2022

How a Mathematician Spends His Sundays

- New York Times
January 28, 2022

The Secret of Synchronization

- Veritasium
March 31, 2021

Why I’m Hosting "The Joy of x" Podcast

- Quanta
January 15, 2020

TED Talk

The Science of Sync
How things in nature tend to sync up

Recent Activities

Recent Activities
Zero to Infinity
Zero to Infinity

Discover how the concepts of zero and infinity revolutionized mathematics.

— NOVA, PBS
November 16, 2022

A Trip to Infinity
A Trip to Infinity

Eminent mathematicians, particle physicists and cosmologists dive into infinity and its mind-bending implications for the universe.

— Netflix
September 26, 2022

Who's Afraid of Big Numbers?
Who's Afraid of Big Numbers?

Pretty much everyone. But it doesn’t have to be that way, two mathematicians contend.

— New York Times
June 17, 2021

The Surprising Secret of Synchronization
The Surprising Secret of Synchronization

How does order spontaneously arise out of chaos?

— Veritasium
March 31, 2021

The Math Equation That Tried to Stump the Internet
The Math Equation That Tried to Stump the Internet

Sometimes BODMAS is just PEMDAS by another name. And no, the answer is not 100.

- The New York Times
August 2, 2019

Pi Day: How One Irrational Number Made Us Modern
Pi Day: How One Irrational Number Made Us Modern

The famous mathematical ratio, estimated to more than 22 trillion digits (and counting), is the perfect symbol for our species’ long effort to tame infinity.

- The New York Times
March 14, 2019

One Giant Step for a Chess-Playing Machine
One Giant Step for a Chess-Playing Machine

The stunning success of AlphaZero, a deep-learning algorithm, heralds a new age of insight—one that, for humans, may not last long.

- The New York Times
December 26, 2018

Exploring Mathematical Genius
Exploring Mathematical Genius

A panel discussion about Srinivasa Ramanujan, the nature of mathematical genius, and the film "The Man Who Knew Infinity."    

- World Science Festival
March 11, 2016

Einstein's First Proof
Einstein's First Proof

Einstein's boyhood proof of the Pythagorean theorem foreshadows the scientist he later became.

- The New Yorker
November 19, 2015

Aspen Ideas Festival
Aspen Ideas Festival

On Science Friday at the 2015 Aspen Ideas Festival, Jordan Ellenberg, Jo Boaler and Steven Strogatz fielded questions from host Ira Flatow and posed brainteasers to the live audience. (Photo Credit: Olivier Douliery)

- Aspen Institute
July 3, 2015

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