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I'm Mike and most of my most well-known writing is about mathematics, computer science, and books.
Here are some of the most popular posts:
Math
How To Understand Span (Linear Algebra)
Our eyes see color using only three types of cone cells — which take in red, green, and blue light — and yet from those three types we can…
Mike BeneschanHow to Understand Basis (Linear Algebra)
When teaching linear algebra, the concept of a basis is often overlooked. My tutoring students could understand linear independence and…
Mike BeneschanHow To Understand Linear Independence (Linear Algebra)
When I first took linear algebra in college, I felt bombarded by definitions. From what I understand, many students go through the same…
Mike BeneschanThe Chicken McNugget Theorem, Explained
The BTS Chicken McNugget Meal, Why you can’t buy 43 McNuggets at McDonald’s, and a math problem from the 1800s.
Mike BeneschanWhy Triple Integrals Are Actually Useful
You can feel the dread in a room when students realize double integrals and triple integrals exist. Integrals, which many students solely…
Mike BeneschanOne of the Tiniest Proofs Ever Published
Euler was wrong!
Mike BeneschanLeibniz Published an Anonymous Defense of Himself (It Didn’t Work)
The “Charta Volans” didn’t fool anyone
Mike Beneschan
How Nicolas Bourbaki Defined the Number 1
Using... 2,409,875,496,393,137,472,149,767,527,877,436,912,979,508,338,752,092,897 symbols
Mike Beneschan
Data Science
Analyzing Jollibee Restaurant Data
I am hungry for a chickenjoy
Mike Beneschan
Why Is Germany So Bad at Eurovision?
Using data science to explore Germany’s (lack of) points in the Eurovision Song Contest from 1975–2022
Mike Beneschan5 Data Plots I Made That Are Completely Useless
Your analysis is supposed to reveal something new. It should reveal an insight into a trend, or an abnormal pattern. Employers for data…
Mike Beneschan
Other
The Great Font Debacle
The U.S. State Department dumps Times New Roman for Calibri and probably doesn’t accomplish much
Mike Beneschan
Hexagon Boards vs. Square Boards Explained
Why board game designers often prefer hexagons
Mike Beneschan
BeReal is Weird and Doesn’t Solve Your Real Problem
The app that claims to make you more authentic (and probably doesn’t)
Mike Beneschan