Mathscapes
My curiosity about computers started in the early 2000s and grew into an interest in mathematics and computer science. Over time it took a firmer shape: by 2006, still in school, I was toying with the idea of starting a small research group. In 2008 I got interested in prime numbers and whether they could be used for information compression, and I started building algorithms around that idea. They were sound in theory but impractical in the real world, and that taught me something about algorithm design: theoretical possibility isn't enough, you have to weigh what actually works. It also got me imagining Mathscapes, in the same year, as a place to share ideas in mathematics and follow its connections to natural science, people, and computing. I've wanted to keep Mathscapes quiet, bringing it to more people slowly over the years. The aim is to build open-source tools and resources that make maths more approachable, while staying mindful of what my work might mean for society. At Mathscapes I work on algorithms with an eye to their efficiency, their complexity, and their effect on people and the natural world.
“Abstraction consists essentially in the creation and utilization of ambiguity.” […] “Logic moves in one direction, the direction of clarity, coherence, and structure. Ambiguity moves in the other direction, that of fluidity, openness, and release. Mathematics moves back and forth between these two poles. […] It is the interaction between these different aspects that gives mathematics its power.” William Byers (How Mathematicians Think, Princeton University Press, 2007) [1]
I think of mathematics as a universal language for modelling the world around us, the ground for abstraction and logic, and the most powerful thing we have for decoding and designing. Its power is in that back-and-forth between ambiguity and clarity. I want to make maths more accessible and to help bring on the next generation of mathematicians and computer scientists. My own work is on designing good algorithms from rigorous mathematical principles, and on the meeting point of maths and computing, and it needs collaboration across fields: natural sciences, engineering, social sciences. I care that the algorithms are efficient and practical, and also ethical and responsible, especially as they process large amounts of data in real time. Over the long run, Mathscapes is also about the relationships between mathematics, technology, and culture, and about the harder questions: the long-term effects of technology on society and the environment, and how to avoid the unintended harms. I'd like it to help raise people who take that responsibility seriously.
Byers, William. How Mathematicians Think: Using Ambiguity, Contradiction, and Paradox to Create Mathematics. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University press, 2010. ↩︎