Books I Loved in 2018, Organized Into Mini-Genres

37 eclectic favorites.

Thirdsday: the Holiday That’s 33.33…% Better Than Any Other

It's the day we deserve, and the day we need.

Haircut Optimization

The embarrassing truth.

When the Math is Pretty But the Truth Ain’t

Lost in myth. Lost in math.

Twenty Questions (Of Maddening, Delicious Geometry)

The geometry puzzles that are lighting up Twitter.

Fermat’s Last Paraphrase

Mathematicians: the world's weirdest translators.

Errors No More Egregious Than Confusing “Million” and “Billion”

Hey, I get it. “Million” and “billion” sound basically the same. When written, they differ by a single letter. Both mean “more dollars than I have at the moment.” On a purely sensory level, swapping them feels like confusing “affect”/“effect” or “allusion”/“illusion,” or Natalie Portman/Keira Knightley. An honest mistake. And yet . . . There … Continue reading Errors No More Egregious Than Confusing “Million” and “Billion” →