Strogatz Talks Mathematical Power Tools

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April 2, 2010 

With the help of Bruce Willis and the Detroit International Airport, Stephen Strogatz covers the functions of functions in his latest column for The New York Times.

"A mathematician needs functions for the same reason that a builder needs hammers and drills," Strogatz wrote. "Tools transform things. So do functions. In fact, mathematicians often refer to them as 'transformations' because of this.  But instead of wood or steel, functions pound away on numbers and shapes and, sometimes, even on other functions."

Read Strogatz's full column here.