# Mathematician Couple’s Wedding Math Questions

It is fun for the guests who are also mathematicians like the wedding couple…

Why don’t the IT couples do the same with computer questions (eg. private cloud, serverless, containers, DevOps,… ) , lawyers with legal cases, doctors with medical questions …

Example 1 is obvious to this guest whose PhD research topic is in Differential Geometry “Chern Class” invented by Prof S. S. Chern (陈省身) :

Example 2 is obvious to this guest unless he/she can’t count the number of sides (8):

Example 3 is to the guest with some background in secondary school organic chemistry but forgotten, definitely not linear…

Example 4 to the hobbyist of Rubik’s cube, but the answer can be guessed easily by elimination: definitely not 2019 (this year), or π.

Answer in multiple choices (Only 1 answer is correct, the other 2 answers are obviously wrong) :

# Sir Michael Atiyah obituary

Atiyah is so-called the “2nd Newton” in being both a Mathematics & a Physics Grandmaster, his life achievement extends the ancient Greek Geometry to Topology and Algebra since Euclid till now, providing useful application to Quantum Physics.

https://amp.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/15/sir-michael-atiyah-obituary

Vector Bundle 向量丛

K-Theory : Vector Bundle invariant

In Sept 2018, Atiyah claimed in a seminar of his astonishingly simplest proof of the Riemann Hypothesis (one of the 6 outstanding millenian problems with US\$1 million Clay Prize) – but sadly nobody believes him even after his death 3 months later !

https://tomcircle.wordpress.com/2018/09/28/what-is-riemanns-hypothesis/

# Knowing Monads Through The Category Theory

While Mathematicians like to talk non-sensical abstract idea, Informaticians want to know how to apply the idea concretely:

Mathematical Parlance:

Monoid = Identity + Associative

Endo-functor = functor between 2 same categories

IT Parlance:

Monad is a ‘function’ to wrap the ‘side effects’ (exception errors, I/O,… ) so that function composition in ‘pipeline‘ chained operation sequence is still possible in pure FP (Functional Programming, which forbids side-effects).

This allows monads to simplify a wide range of problems, like handling potential undefined values (with the Maybe monad), or keeping values within a flexible, well-formed list (using the List monad). With a monad, a programmer can turn a complicated sequence of functions into a succinct pipeline that abstracts away additional data management, control flow, or side-effects.[2][3]

# 13 classic mathematics books for lifelong learners

Out of 13 must-read Popular Math books, our Singapore National Library NLB has 6 which I borrowed and read: eg. “Prime Obsession” , “What is Mathematics” , etc.

Popular math books are better than the boring textbooks (Axiom – Theorem – Proof – Exercise). They are motivational, more concrete instead of abstract, philosophical analogy with the Nature (afterall, the math ideas derived from the universe, eg. Pi, e, golden ratio, infinity, limit, …), plus the historical background in which these math ideas were first discovered, and the beauty of these inter-connected ideas such as the Euler’s Identity:

$\boxed{e^{i. \pi} + 1 = 0}$

Proof from the Book” – the name “Book” (God’s Theorem Proof Book) is coined by Paul Erdos the Hungarian ‘vagabond’ (homeless, single, no nationality) mathematician, who had proven 1000+ theorems (some co-operated with his students). He said he had peeped into God’s “Book” to discover these theorems.

My favorite Popular Math book which inspired me in 2005 to re-pick up the fearsome Abstract (aka Modern) Algebra is : “Unknown Quantity” by Prof John Derbyshire, avail at NLB.

Math before university is the “What and How“, whereas the University Math is the “Why” – after WW2 the French Bourbaki Reform in Math Education worldwide based on Set Theory, the post-war Philosophy Trend “The Structurism 结构主义” shaking the basic foundation of Math: Algebraic Structures. eg Group (群) , Ring (环) , Field (域) , Vector Space (向量空间) , Cateogy Theory (范畴论) .

The 70 years of WW1 & 2 taught the world Anarchism (无政府主义) was chaotic & disastrous to society, hence the more orderly “Structurism” Philosophy was born, influencing all Sciences: Chomsky Linguistics, Sociology, IT Structured Programming ‘Pascal’ , Anthropology 人类学, Abstract Algebraic Structure Math…