I often write about topics that I myself have struggled to understand. If I’ve struggled, I assume that many others have struggled as well. Over the years, I’ve found several mathematical concepts confusing, not because I’m mathematically disinclined or disinterested, but because my formal training in mathematics was rather limited and, in some cases, poorly […]

In season 1, episode 3 of the television series “Star Trek: Discovery,” when faced with a particularly wicked problem the captain of the starship Discovery speaks these words: “Universal law is for lackeys; context is for kings.” I suspect that the writers of this show consciously crafted these words for quotability. They rise to the […]