Mathematical Instruments: The Endeavour
October 26, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Mathematical Instruments.
via Wikimedia Commons
This post is part of the series Mathematical Instruments in which we introduce you to some of the math bloggers listed on our site. Today:
John D. Cook — The Endeavour
Any places like Twitter, Google+, Facebook, etc. we can find you on?
I have a personal Twitter account, @JohnDCook, and I have a dozen Twitter accounts where I schedule daily tips on various topics, mostly related to math and computing. There’s a list here: http://www.johndcook.com/twitter/.
I’m also on Google+.
Would you tell us a little bit more about yourself? E.g., Where are you coming from (both geographically and philosophically)? What is your background? Any scientific education?
I live in Houston, Texas. I did a PhD in math at University of Texas, then a postdoc at Vanderbilt. After that I left academia and worked as a software developer for a few years. Now I’m working in biostatistics at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
When and how did you first discover mathematical blogs?
It’s funny, but I don’t remember.
When did you start blogging?
January 2008.
What do you write about?
I write about math and computing the most, but I also write about other topics: creativity, books, coffee, anything I think other people might find interesting.
What wouldn’t have happened to you without the internet?
There are a lot of people I wouldn’t know, and a lot of ideas I would not have been exposed to. But I also might have had deeper friendships and been more focused. 
What does the internet need more of?
People with patience and a sense of humor.
Your daily web reading (mathematical or otherwise):
I subscribe to a lot of blogs, but most of them don’t post very often, so the mix changes. I enjoy reading “What’s New” from Terry Tao when I can understand it. “God plays dice” and “Division by Zero” are a couple good math blogs. Ribbonfarm is thought-provoking. Twenty two words is a lot of fun.
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