Approximating Mathematical Constants Using Minecraft

Re:Approximating Mathematical Constants Using Minecraft by cedilla on Wednesday December 04, 2024 @10:58AM (#42318740)

Are you simply trolling or just so cynical that you can't read about some people having fun with mathematics on computers on a site called Hacker News without feeling the need to insult a whole discipline and building strawmen?

I don't know what you think the "math education problem" is, but I guarantee that being nasty to people is not the way to solve it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Approximating Mathematical Constants Using Minecraft by dh2022 on Wednesday December 04, 2024 @12:27PM (#42319710)

I agree with the parent poster. A blog post seems more appropriate for these types of fun (math-related) activities. The Try Things on Your Own sections seems more appropriate for middle-schoolers / high-schoolers than University students/professors.

At least this was not supported by an NSF grant (There are problems more deserving of NSF grants than approximating pi with square blocks.)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Approximating Mathematical Constants Using Minecraft by nxobject on Wednesday December 04, 2024 @03:24PM (#42321668)

I don’t think the arXiv makes any claim to require a minimum level of originality or contribution to the state of the art, beyond “write it up as a paper in full academic prose and it can’t just be a proposal”, especially in a history and overview subsection dedicated to exposition. The authors have a pretty good claim for getting published in an expository journal like, say, the MAA Monthly.

(Also, I don’t think this is any surprise to you, but an NSF proposal requires engagement with the literature, and a statement of contributions.)

[ Parent | on HN ]