A bout of Covid was the impetus three mathematicians needed to solve one of the oldest problems in number theory -- my latest for
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Erica Klarreich
@EricaKlarreich
Mathematics and science journalist. My work has appeared in Quanta, Nature, The Atlantic, New Scientist, Science News and other publications.
Erica Klarreich’s Tweets
Mathematicians thought it might take another century to solve the triple bubble problem. But now a "monumental" new approach has knocked down the triple, quadruple and quintuple bubble problems, and more! My latest for
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My kid loved 's math comics, so I was excited to talk to founder Richard Rusczyk about his ambition to bring the joy of problem-solving into classrooms everywhere:
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"Just weeks after Maryna Viazovska learned she had won a Fields Medal — the highest honor for a mathematician — Russian tanks and war planes began their assault on Ukraine, her homeland, and Kyiv, her hometown." and I tell her story. 1/x
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Maynard's mentor insisted that he nail down every detail of his groundbreaking result on prime numbers. “Nobody’s going to believe you, because nobody’s ever heard of you,” he said. “You have to write this so well that nobody can argue with you.”
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And here's on Maynard's work about approximating irrational numbers with rational ones: quantamagazine.org/new-proof-sett (3/3)
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And here's my story from 2014 on his work on *large* gaps between primes: quantamagazine.org/mathematicians (2/3)
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And for a deeper look at new Fields Medalist James Maynard's work, here first of all is my story from 2013 on his work on small gaps between primes: quantamagazine.org/mathematicians (1/3)
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And here's her work on universal optimality of those same packings, which has been compared to the great breakthroughs of the 19th century: quantamagazine.org/universal-math (2/2)
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For a more in-depth look at the work of new Fields Medalist Maryna Viazovska, here are two earlier stories I wrote on her research: first off, her breakthrough on sphere-packing in dimensions 8 and 24, which really put her on the map: quantamagazine.org/sphere-packing (1/2)
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This is the third piece and I have co-written. Collaborating with Erica as her editor and sometimes co-writer has been one of the great joys of my career in science journalism.
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Maryna Viazovska has won the Fields Medal for advances that mathematicians put on a par with the great breakthroughs of the 19th century. @7homaslin and I cover her life and work here: quantamagazine.org/ukrainian-math
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James Maynard has won the Fields Medal for his dazzling breakthroughs about prime numbers. Here's my profile for (Spoiler: winning the medal is not necessarily the biggest event of his week)
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Maryna Viazovska has won the Fields Medal for advances that mathematicians put on a par with the great breakthroughs of the 19th century. and I cover her life and work here:
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“There was no good reason to believe we could do that." My latest for
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I'm looking forward to talking with Steve, and Amie Wilkinson tonight--hope you can join us!
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Tonight at 7pm ET, join us for a discussion of the film SECRETS OF THE SURFACE, about the life and work of the brilliant mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman Fields Medalist. FREE registration and info at momath.org/civicrm/?page=
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Thank you to the committee for this incredible honor. Congratulations to -- IMO there's not another science journalist more deserving of a Pulitzer in explanatory reporting than Natalie, who has been a big part of since the beginning.
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Congratulations to @QuantaMagazine and @nattyover. #Pulitzer
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So proud of ’s writers (staff and freelance), editors, fact-checkers and copy editors for taking home People’s Voice Award for Best Writing! I’m deeply grateful to our readers for voting us to victory! (We have the best readers.)
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Thrilled to learn this morning that @QuantaMagazine is a finalist in the #Webbys Best Writing category. Please vote for us for a People’s Voice award! 
wbby.co/web-best-writi
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Is there enough hardness in the world to make cryptography possible? That is, do we live in Algorithmica, Heuristica, Pessiland (uh oh), Minicrypt or Cryptomania? My latest for
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A fundamental question about randomness holds the key to whether secure cryptography is possible--my latest for
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Thrilled to learn this morning that is a finalist in the #Webbys Best Writing category. Please vote for us for a People’s Voice award! 🙏🏼 wbby.co/web-best-writi
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It was a fascinating challenge explaining Mirzakhani's math in this sensitive and touching documentary about her extraordinary life. If you haven't seen it yet, check your tv listings!
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Don't miss SECRETS OF THE SURFACE @SecretsMathFilm during #WomensHistoryMonth! Airing on public television stations via @Ampublictv on more than 120 stations via @PBS World Channel. Check local listings and our airdates page: buff.ly/3gNZTpf buff.ly/35RnBOR @KTVU
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A behind-the-scenes look at ’s stellar reporting on the contentious abc conjecture proof. (Read the 2018 article: quantamagazine.org/titans-of-math)
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Science is a human endeavor, and scientists are people, too. That means, covering science sometimes means reporting on controversy. Here is how to do it, with @rkhamsi, @EricaKlarreich and others. theopennotebook.com/2022/02/22/rep
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Science is a human endeavor, and scientists are people, too. That means, covering science sometimes means reporting on controversy. Here is how to do it, with , and others.
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My 1st foray into cryptic xword construction appears tomorrow as a guest contribution at Out of Left Field Cryptics. If you're not subscribed yet to and 's fiendishly clever and charmingly witty cryptics, now's the time to do so! leftfieldcryptics.com
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Fantastic read. Thx shout out to your website ericaklarreich.com
and to Ben's Websites:
people.maths.ox.ac.uk/greenbj/
maths.ox.ac.uk/people/ben.gre
Mathematician Hurls Structure and Disorder Into Century-Old Problem ino.to/Dum1pbe
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Travel from the subatomic realm to the farthest reaches of the universe with our Quantum to Cosmos interactive scale! hubs.ly/Q011cq9K0
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A well-known conjecture concerning a 100-year-old math problem about stringing beads turns out to be "spectacularly wrong" -- my latest for
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Mike Freedman's proof of the 4d Poincare conjecture is one of the most daring, inscrutable results in math history. Now, a new book is trying to save it from being forgotten. I cover this decades-long drama in my new piece for
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I'm deeply touched that and its staff have been voted #Webbys People's Voice winner for best science website. Receiving this level of support and recognition from you, our valued readers, is an honor beyond measure. Tune in :
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How do mathematicians precisely count holes in shapes, especially when those shapes are nearly impossible to visualize? Homology! Here's my explanation in
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Fun to see this story I wrote 8 years ago popping up on Twitter....
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Happy Birthday to Michael Freedman - who entered college intending to major in art, but switched to math & went on to win the #FieldsMedal (and a Nat'l Medal of Science & a MacArthur fellowship...)! Read/watch more of his story in our Science Lives series. simonsfoundation.org/2013/11/12/mic
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At the end of a recent online lecture, mathematician Giles Gardam dropped a bombshell: an 80-year-old conjecture about multiplicative inverses is false. My latest for
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“Faber, Lovász and I made this harmless looking conjecture at a party in Boulder Colorado in September 1972. Its difficulty was realised only slowly. I now offer 500 dollars for a proof or disproof." — Erdős
I wrote about its recent resolution.
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Solving systems of linear equations was one of my favorite topics as an algebra student. That made it especially enjoyable to report this new piece for , on the discovery of the fastest method yet for solving some of these types of problems.
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An outsider has answered the geometry question that legendary problem-solver Jean Bourgain was stuck on for more than three decades -- my latest for
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Cutting-edge number theory solves an ancient-seeming question and classifies *all* rational tetrahedra. My new story in
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When the Capitol is cleared and secured, and the joint session of Congress and the electoral vote count is completed, the House and the Senate should proceed immediately to the impeachment and removal of .
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GENIUS!
@GilbertandSullivan #gilbertandsullivan
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Replying to @HHMusicOfficial
Ok, ok, if @wtgowers and @MrHonner and all are going to produce such gems then I guess I should at least give it a try.
Mine is to be sung to the tune of “When I, good friends, was called to the bar.” (1/10)
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