Robert gapes in wonder at the doodling prowess of self-proclaimed math geek Vi Hart. Read more, and watch Vi's blazing pencil in action.

Alan Turing's mental leaps about machines and computers were some of the most innovative ideas of the 20th century. But the world wasn't kind to him. In this short, Robert wonders how Turing's personal life shaped his understanding of mechanical minds and human emotions.

Teachers and principals have been feeling tremendous pressure to raise scores on elementary and middle school state exams – especially since the pass rate fell dramatically last year. At PS-IS 327 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, teachers and students were well aware of the importance of this year's test.

Today is the 50th anniversary of the first human orbiting the earth. That human, Yuri Gagarin, was Russian, and his accomplishment was, like the Sputnik launch, a moment that terrified Americans and fed our fears that we couldn’t keep up with the Joneses across the sea. We look at this anniversary, and at the fact that we’re still lagging behind our international neighbors in math and science. What would it take for us to catch up? Recreational mathematician Vi Hart has some ideas. First on the list: to stop seeing math as a skill of right and wrong, and to begin embracing it as a tool of creativity.

In his State of the Union Address, President Obama described the key role math and science education is going to play in the nation’s future, as part of a competitive global economy. He says he’s prepared to take steps so the nation won’t fall behind. For more, we’re joined now by one of the nation’s top science educators. Shirley Ann Jackson, President of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and she joins us from Davos, Switzerland — site of the World Economic Forum.

Maverick mathmatician, Benoit Mandelbrot, died yesterday, at age 85 of pancreatic cancer. Considered the father of fractal geometry, he coined the term "fractal," described the Mandelbrot set, and is arguably the most influential figure inside of mathematics within the last half-century. We'll take a look at his impact, and his legacy.

Algorithms are used to solve problems. They’re used in math, computer programming, and on Wall Street, but we also use algorithms to tie our shoes or to bake a loaf of bread. On this week’s Please Explain, Daniel Bienstock, Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, at Columbia University, and Harry Lewis, Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard, tell us what algorithms are and how they work to solve problems both simple and complex. Harry Lewis is the author of Blown to Bits and Excellence without a Soul: Does Liberal Education Have a Future.

Josh Axelrad had a respectable but dull job on Wall Street when he decided to abandon it to enter the world of professional blackjack. His book Repeat Until Rich: A Professional Card Counter’s Chronicle of the Blackjack Wars is a darkly funny account of his experience playing ...

Getting out of remedial math is a two-step process at CUNY’s community colleges. Students have to get a 60% average in their class, and they have to pass an assessment known as COMPASS.

At LaGuardia Community College, 32 ...

The latest numbers show that just about a third of the city’s 4th graders -- and even fewer 8th graders -- were considered proficient on this year’s national math exam. As students progress through the educational system, weak math skills take their toll. And, community colleges are feeling the pressure. ...

New York City students made no significant progress on their national math exams. But the Bloomberg Administration says that doesn't mean its reforms have stalled. WNYC's Beth Fertig has more.

REPORTER: Fourth grade scores were flat and eighth grade scores went up just slightly on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. ...

New national math test scores come out today. Diane Ravitch, research professor of education at New York University and author of The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn, talks about the 4th and 8th grade national scores, and state scores.

Producer Soren Wheeler brings us a story about a friendship between Steve Strogatz and his high school math teacher, Don Joffray. Steve explains how numbers can connect you and where they fall short.

Mark Nigrini shares the story of physicist Frank Benford, a man whose curiosity about a book inspired a bizarre discovery. Benford's Law, as it is now known, reveals a cosmic preference for certain numbers. Then Darrell D. Dorrell, a forensic accountant, describes how he uses Benford's Law to bust ...

Less than a third of the nation’s community college students earn degrees after 3 years. One reason is the large number of students who need remedial classes. Here in New York, 75 percent of freshmen at the City University of New York’s community colleges take remedial math, writing or reading. ...

Community colleges serve almost half of all college students in the nation. Graduation rates are low - hovering around 30 percent after three years - and a majority of students need remedial help, especially in math. This is the case in New York City where community colleges are seeing a ...

Derrick Niederman, author of Number Freak: From 1 to 200 The Hidden Language of Numbers Revealed, shares his intense love of integers.

Even with the Senate set to get back to business today, Mayor Bloomberg's administration is considering the unthinkable: what to do if mayoral control does expire. As WNYC's Beth Fertig reports,the expiration could lead to a hornet's nest of issues.

REPORTER: If mayoral control does expire, the city schools would go ...

The president of the pro-business Partnership for New York City says mayoral control has improved the public schools. Kathryn Wylde testified at the city's final state assembly education committee hearing on the matter today. She says employers now have more faith in city graduates. Wylde also acknowledged that parents are ...

Is mathematics a human invention, or is it a design of the universe? Mario Livio, author of Is God a Mathematician?, talks about the debate over the role of mathematics in explaining the universe.

Event:
Mario Livio will be speaking
Mon. Jan. 12 at 7:30 ...