James Propp

I'm a professor at UMass Lowell. I write a monthly blog called Mathematical Enchantments ( Sometimes I’m facetious w/o using smileys.

[James Propp @JimPropp]

To take it a step farther, consider joining the \begin{proof} community:

https://t.co/9QS68kk9bR

[James Propp @JimPropp]

Consider signing the Leiden Declaration:

https://t.co/pP4pxUmS7h

[James Propp @JimPropp]

I'm delighted to report that I've been chosen to be a Radcliffe Institute Fellow for 2026-2027. I'll spend the year conducting research on tilings and completing a first draft of my book "What Can Numbers Be?". https://t.co/LATXYYUEeE

[James Propp @JimPropp]

The first half is a mathematically correct discussion of models of growth (exponential vs. logistic) in a fictional context. The second half uses the same scenario to show that sometimes there are more important things than being mathematically correct.

[James Propp @JimPropp]

In this month's Mathematical Enchantment, a math-and-science writer named Jim Propp, inhabiting a variant of the fictional Project Hail Mary universe, confesses to his pivotal role in the impending end of all life on Earth, and kind-of sort-of apologizes. https://t.co/ZqDTileMzC

[James Propp @JimPropp]

Learn how a stupid question led to an interesting, albeit spectacularly useless, way to estimate pi by tossing a coin many, many times, in this month's Mathematical Enchantments essay, "In Praise of Stupid Questions". https://t.co/V0FmTgklgY

[James Propp @JimPropp]

Hexagons in Harvard Square, #6. Who knows where I took this photo?

[James Propp @JimPropp]

Writing in The New Yorker earlier this month, Stephen Witt said matrix multiplication is ugly. Is he right? Check out my take at https://t.co/BTbxiQ6c7V

[James Propp @JimPropp]

This just opened near me, and not a moment too soon. I really could use a few extra terabytes of RAM between my ears.

[James Propp @JimPropp]

It’s used by X-ray technicians to take an X-ray that shows your fingers individually from the side, as you rest your hand on it with your fingers splayed. I doubt that this polytope has been studied, but it is definitely chiral in both the mathematical and etymology senses.

[James Propp @JimPropp]

Riddle: what is this object used for?

[James Propp @JimPropp]

It’s made of spongy material and costs around $15.

[James Propp @JimPropp]

This month in Mathematical Enchantments: An 87-year-old fractal wanted to be seen and understood. I figured it could use some help. https://t.co/E3QL8X1tUG

[James Propp @JimPropp]

A triple negative in the headlines today: “Court lifts immigration stop limits”

[James Propp @JimPropp]

@mathillustrated Come to a MOVES conference or a Gathering 4 Gardner conference or some other event I’m attending!

[James Propp @JimPropp]

Have you ever seen balls ricochet down a network and land in bins to create not the usual bell-shaped curve but a curve with two humps or more? Soon you'll be able to at MoMath. https://t.co/3wnp7LNJu1

[James Propp @JimPropp]

What? No “Decolonize Catan” bumper stickers for sale? Shame on you, Internet!

[James Propp @JimPropp]

I’m disappointed to learn that “hypergamy” refers to nothing more interesting than what used to be called “gold-digging”. I was hoping it referred to something more genuinely mind-bending, like being married to uncountably many people along uncountably many timelines.

[James Propp @JimPropp]

I just found a few at https://t.co/l0YQngjxtY but that list is far from complete.

[James Propp @JimPropp]

There’s a pattern in the original Star Trek series: when a bad character is vanquished, they die or leave repeating some phrase over and over (the friendly angel, Apollo, Tralayne, Charlie X, Nomad, Redjac, …). Has anyone catalogued them, because that’s what the Internet is for?