Dear all,
I am writing to bring your attention to a new maths forum that has been set
up by Plus Magazine (www.plus.maths.org) and science journal giant Nature.
'Nature Networks' was set up to provide a global stage for science
discussion, allowing scientists to meet, interact and comment on the latest
news, debate current topics or exchange information. The mathematics forum
on the network is brought to you by Plus, and we're aiming to provide a
platform for anyone who wants to discuss maths, whether it's actual maths,
maths teaching, the portrayal of maths in the media, or good and bad maths
content elsewhere on the internet.
The address is:
http://network.nature.com/group/mathematics
We have started two topics already, one to introduce yourself and one to
discuss mathematics and the media. Its the maths and the media topic that I
thought PSCI-COMers might be most interested in.
When we set up this forum, we were surprised to find that the subject
mathematics hadn’t already been snapped up. After all, maths underlies the
natural and life sciences and also technology.
But then, maybe it’s not that surprising. The media, even the science media,
tend to keep a safe distance from maths, carefully circumnavigating it even
if it lies at the heart of the work that’s being reported on. Mathematics is
all too often characterised as a tool and measured by its applications.
This may sound like a complaint against the media, but it’s not. In truth,
it can be very difficult for journalists, even science journalists, to
obtain information about maths. While news about newly proved theorems and
other advances spread like wildfire among mathematicians, there are hardly
any channels that bring them to the attention of the wider world. In
contrast to other scientists, most mathematicians, especially those working
in pure maths, would never dream of putting together a press release or
contacting the media about a new result. They simply are not aware that
anyone outside their field might be interested, partly because such interest
is seldom voiced by the media. Apart from Plus magazine there are hardly any
publications that summarise maths news in a way that is accessible even to
other mathematicians working in other fields, let alone to mainstream
science journalists.
As a popular mathematics magazine we’d be very interested to hear your view
on maths and the media. Are you a mathematician frustrated by constant non-
or misrepresentation? Are you a non-expert desperately trying to find
accessible information about mathematics? Do you have a specific maths
question? Or would you like to point others to some particularly good maths
coverage? Whatever it is, we’d really like to hear from you.
The address for the network is:
http://network.nature.com/group/mathematics
Feel free to take part in this maths / media debate, start a new topic on
any area of mathematics you like, pose a question or answer the questions of
others.
Thanks,
Marc
Plus Magazine
http://www.plus.maths.org
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