I was trying to help Mary (not her real name) with her genealogy. She had brought a folder full of documents to the library. As we went through them, a key one was a photocopy from a compiled genealogy. But neither of us can figure out what the source actually is. We just know it [...]
General
William Shanks (1812-1882) was an Englishman and amateur mathematician. He spent 17 years of his life calculating the digits of the mathematical constant π. In the days before computers this was a laborious pencil and paper calculation. As he made progress, and raced against others for how far he could take the calculation, he reported [...]
I don’t know about you, but I’m stuffed! Too much ham, too much pie, too much of everything. So, as I enter 2019 I will have the usual resolutions related to diet and exercise. Perhaps the same is true for you as well. I wish I could help with that, but that’s not my area [...]
