From Mathematics

I'm a lowly sophomore student of CS and math at the moment. Up until I was close to graduating high school, I really wasn't interested in math much at all. This changed gradually and the kicker was probably when I had to write a script for listing software packages in order of dependency. My yahoo approach to programming didn't work anymore and then I found out about topological sorting. This graph algorithm solved my problem in very plain terms and showed me how math has a certain magical quality. Programming does too, but the major distinctions are that programming is more active than passive, and is more gross than intricate—even the proof of the four color theorem is probably shorter than a lot of perfectly crappy programs, and most are far, far shorter. Initially, I considered math a means to an end, but now I can appreciate its differences for their own sake; the beauty of math's passive nature ('let be ', not ' := ') is becoming clear. I spend most of my research time on math these days. The road has not been without ruts but it's going pretty well now. I still wish I had done things differently but, on the bright side, I'm already pretty good at .

Areas of mathematics where I have better strength (or at least interest, which combines with effort to become strength) include symbolic logic, graph theory, probability theory and abstract algebra.

Areas of mathematics where I am not so strong, but intend to improve, include calculus (really need that, of course—probability has helped to a degree) and linear algebra (kind of boring tbh).

Areas of mathematics that are currently beyond me include topology and category theory—although it looks like Haskell programming is going to give me at least superficial exposure to the latter through monads, which it uses to manage state.

With a few exceptions, I will probably be a wussy at number theory forever, which is a pity. I could never really get into it.

I intend to complete a BS in Computer Science and then an MS in Applied Math. Later on, I might well do a Ph.D. in one of either of them. As you might have guessed, I value formality and proof, but I work best with putting things into practice. I want to do my thesis on operations research because it shares a lot in common with artificial intelligence, the field I want to work in. (I don't want a Master's in Computer Science.)

[edit] Articles I Have Authored

Sparse now, but should fill out with time.

• Central limit theorem (really needs work)
• De Morgan's laws
• Dijkstra's algorithm
• Integration by parts
• Prim's algorithm
• Proof of Chebyshev's inequality
• Proof of Prim's algorithm
• Proof of the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality
• Proof of unbiased estimator for variance
• Uniform cost search

[edit] Articles I Have Co-authored

I generally don't like messing with other people's writing. However

• List of free mathematics books

I'm good at finding freebies. I have added 46 books to this list so far.

[edit] Do I Have A Life Beyond Math and Computer Science?

To a certain degree, yes.

I enjoy long walks, up to twenty kilometers per day. I'm a bit of a health freak in some ways.

I listen to heavy metal, classical music and aggrotech / harsh EBM / dark electro / whatever they call it this week.

I like a few television programs and films: Beavis and Butt-head is my favorite television show and The Terminator is my favorite film.

Ultimately, I'd like to live and work in either mainland China or Taiwan, continuing to research artificial intelligence and operations research in industry. For whatever reason, I fit in really well with Chinese people. I am making a really pathetic effort to learn Mandarin, of course. 再见!