Danny Kodicek
@dannykodicek.bsky.social
Trying to limit my social media exposure but can't quite shake it. Random mix of furious politics, obscure maths, and bad jokes. D&D account @dndwithplumbing.bsky.social. He/him
I feel like there's actually something super-deep hiding in this question, but I'm a zillion miles away from having the mathematical understanding to pursue it!
November 13, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I feel like there's actually something super-deep hiding in this question, but I'm a zillion miles away from having the mathematical understanding to pursue it!
Really quite bizarrely bad
November 13, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Really quite bizarrely bad
Does it help to think about the function in terms of Taylor series? Differentiation drops "down" the polynomial chain, integration takes it "up". (Of course, when the chain is infinitely long, it's still hard to see what this means!)
November 13, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Does it help to think about the function in terms of Taylor series? Differentiation drops "down" the polynomial chain, integration takes it "up". (Of course, when the chain is infinitely long, it's still hard to see what this means!)
I guess the closest I can get to it intuitively is that differentiation tends to make a function "smoother" than the original in some not very easy-to-define sense
November 13, 2025 at 4:00 PM
I guess the closest I can get to it intuitively is that differentiation tends to make a function "smoother" than the original in some not very easy-to-define sense
I always start by emphasising that the vast, vast majority of functions can't be integrated, so every integral they ever see is specifically constructed for the purpose
November 13, 2025 at 3:14 PM
I always start by emphasising that the vast, vast majority of functions can't be integrated, so every integral they ever see is specifically constructed for the purpose
If you're good at substitution, I'm not convinced it takes significantly longer than inspection. I always tell students to use whichever one they feel more comfortable with.
November 13, 2025 at 2:44 PM
If you're good at substitution, I'm not convinced it takes significantly longer than inspection. I always tell students to use whichever one they feel more comfortable with.
I'm a big fan of "guess the integral, differentiate, then adjust the constant"
November 13, 2025 at 2:39 PM
I'm a big fan of "guess the integral, differentiate, then adjust the constant"
Reposted by Danny Kodicek
To recap: Jeffrey Epstein offered a NY Times reporter photos taken in Epstein's kitchen of Donald Trump and girls in bikinis *and* implored the NYT reporter to put this information in the public discourse in 2015
What did the NY Times editors know about this offer?
What did the NY Times editors know about this offer?
“would you like photos of donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen?” -Jeffrey Epstein
November 12, 2025 at 8:05 PM
To recap: Jeffrey Epstein offered a NY Times reporter photos taken in Epstein's kitchen of Donald Trump and girls in bikinis *and* implored the NYT reporter to put this information in the public discourse in 2015
What did the NY Times editors know about this offer?
What did the NY Times editors know about this offer?
"A good walk spoiled"
November 12, 2025 at 12:59 PM
"A good walk spoiled"
My interpretation is that in an equation like y=3x, the value of y is *explicitly* defined in terms of x, whereas in an equation like x²+xy+y²=1, there's no explicit form of that kind. And since it isn't explicit, it must be implicit!
November 12, 2025 at 12:42 PM
My interpretation is that in an equation like y=3x, the value of y is *explicitly* defined in terms of x, whereas in an equation like x²+xy+y²=1, there's no explicit form of that kind. And since it isn't explicit, it must be implicit!
She was unimpressed by my complaint
November 11, 2025 at 9:54 AM
She was unimpressed by my complaint
Another vote for this, although I think some of her stuff on language felt a bit dated. Lots of old "U" / "Non-U" shibboleths like napkin/serviette or lounge/sitting room, but I'm not sure they're still as relevant as they once were.
November 10, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Another vote for this, although I think some of her stuff on language felt a bit dated. Lots of old "U" / "Non-U" shibboleths like napkin/serviette or lounge/sitting room, but I'm not sure they're still as relevant as they once were.
Reposted by Danny Kodicek
Belatedly on the subject of Watson, this is fantastic and well worth your time bsky.app/profile/brit...
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Belatedly on the subject of Watson, this is fantastic and well worth your time bsky.app/profile/brit...