Mathematician, writer, Cornell professor. All cards on the table, face up, all the time.
Ithaca, NY
Joined May 2012
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A free sample of BIG MATH (my new book with Alex Townsend) is now up on Amazon. Hope you like it!
read.amazon.com/sample/03165…
In this latest dispatch from the front lines of math in the age of AI, I tried to tell it like I see it. theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1…
Steven Strogatz retweeted
There is a major result on the KPZ equation in 2+1 dimensions!
This looks like a great example of what the near future of math research could look like.
Here you have an 11-author paper--basically all top experts who had been working in this direction in recent years--combining all their recent results and insights and prompting Astra like maniacs. The result: a major problem in critical SPDEs that everyone in the field was wondering about is now solved!
Fantastic!
Human + AI interaction ==> more understanding
If you care about math and AI, this Substack post by Jonathan Marek will resonate with you. I'm honored by being mentioned in it, but Jonathan is too honest to admit that he was also in the pantheon of Mr. Joffray's former students at @loomischaffee. cultureandcompass.substack.c…
Mesmerized by this sculpture by Forrest myers, "Valledor", at @art_omi. It's a 3-regular graph.
Steven Strogatz retweeted
Two weeks ago, Rikhav Shah and I posted a preprint on the growth factor in Gaussian elimination, and settled a very old problem. It turns out complete pivoting and rook pivoting have quasi-polynomial growth. I’ve spent a decade thinking about this problem. math.mit.edu/~urschel/prepri…
Steven Strogatz retweeted
I’m very opinionated. So it’s nearly impossible for me to hear someone’s arguments and *not* find something I disagree with. (This includes reading things I myself wrote years - or weeks - ago.) And yet the amazing Grant Sanderson @3blue1brown has put out a long, detailed video on the future of mathematics, in which I cannot find a single flaw. I’ll be sending this to every PhD student and postdoc I know, and strongly recommend everyone watch it.
youtube.com/watch?v=LKrwhjOI…
(Of course I tried to say many of the same things in my conversation with Thomas Koberda. But Grant’s version, unsurprisingly, does an infinitely better job at communicating those ideas!)
NFL Player Turned Mathematician (@JohnCUrschel) Solves Problem that Eluded Scholars for Decades
On the growth factor for Gaussian elimination – great interview with Christiane @amanpour
youtu.be/W1uiG8rk2Eg?is=1neW… via @YouTube
Steven Strogatz retweeted
this was an awesome podcast, and i think this one he did was even better --> radiolab.org/podcast/math-vs…
gets more into his thoughts on the pros/cons of relying on AI that is smarter than us but we don't understand when the stakes are higher (cancer diagnosis)
Steven Strogatz retweeted
Loooved this episode of The Daily.
They chatted with a math professor at Cornell University (Steven Strogatz) about how he and math community are feeling about AI's impact on their world.
Lots of tears, and profound takes.
Listen to the episode here: nytimes.com/2026/10/13/podca…
Or here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
Beautiful talk by Grant Sanderson @3blue1brown about a fun question in geometry, the problem-solving utility of thinking topologically, and the buildings of Frank Gehry. Oh yes, and also about "The Role of Exposition in the Future of Mathematics" youtu.be/PtCPLLuMK1o?is=C-UI…
Steven Strogatz retweeted
A little humor goes a long way. 💙
During his recent appearance on @CBSSunday, @AlanAlda spoke with @DrLaPook about living with Parkinson's disease, the importance of staying active, and why he refuses to let a diagnosis define who he is.
youtu.be/8Mt-tn1ZC0A?si=3-AZ…
Steven Strogatz retweeted
New newsletter: I KNOW WHY THE MATHEMATICIANS WEEP
I wrote about "technological grief"—the uncanny and ego-eviscerating feeling of watching a machine do an intellectual job on which you based your sense of self and worth. Also:
- what makes humans special
- what makes math special
- why science is both a craft (discovery) and a conversation (the relationships you build with fellow discoverers)
- how AI disrupting the former (intelligence) might increase the significance of the latter (relationships)
- why other fields should be prepared for emotional and occupational disorientation that mathematicians are going through
With many thanks to deeply wise words of @stevenstrogatz
derekthompson.org/p/i-know-w…
Having the opportunity to be interviewed by Derek Thompson @DKThomp was a rare treat – one of the most scientifically insightful, knowledgeable journalists I've ever spoken with! After I would say something, he would say it back to me better and crisper, every time
New newsletter: I KNOW WHY THE MATHEMATICIANS WEEP
I wrote about "technological grief"—the uncanny and ego-eviscerating feeling of watching a machine do an intellectual job on which you based your sense of self and worth. Also:
- what makes humans special
- what makes math special
- why science is both a craft (discovery) and a conversation (the relationships you build with fellow discoverers)
- how AI disrupting the former (intelligence) might increase the significance of the latter (relationships)
- why other fields should be prepared for emotional and occupational disorientation that mathematicians are going through
With many thanks to deeply wise words of @stevenstrogatz
derekthompson.org/p/i-know-w…
To anyone who may have started following me after hearing me on The Daily, I hope you'll consider checking out THE JOY OF WHY podcast I co-host with @JannaLevin. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
Steven Strogatz retweeted
RIP Jeffrey Goldstone, who never received the Nobel Prize for physics he so richly deserved:
share.google/Dy3AwBTpYjMknbR…
