Mathematical Instruments: cp’s mathem-o-blog

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:

Christian Perfect: cp’s mathem-o-blog

What’s your blog’s name? Any other places we can find you on (Twitter, Google+, Facebook etc)?

My blog’s name is “cp’s mathem-o-blog” or checkmyworking.com. I thought the domain name was very clever when I bought it but it doesn’t really work as a name for a blog. I also edit The Aperiodical and I’m on Twitter as @christianp.

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’m a postgrad mathematician from Newcastle upon Tyne in the north-east of England. My research is in group theory and computability, but I don’t do very much of it. I have Asperger’s syndrome, which probably explains a lot of my way of thinking.
I currently work in Newcastle University’s school of maths and stats as “e-learning officer”, which means I do lots of things to do with putting maths on the web for students and academics.

When and how did you first discover mathematical blogs?

I think the first mathematical blog I encountered was www.mathpuzzle.com (does that count as a blog?), during my undergrad. I hadn’t seen any recreational mathematics at school and I found my degree quite boring, so it gave me a lot of ideas about what I want to do with maths.

When did you start blogging?

When I started my PhD, in 2010.

Why did you start?

To make myself write down notes about my research in an intelligible form. Hence the domain name.

What do you write about?

Most of my posts on checkmyworking.com are either about Newcastle MathsJam, which I organise, exposition of puzzles or trivia I’ve encountered, or programmery stuff about putting maths on the web.
On The Aperiodical I collect interesting maths esoterica, do occasional round-ups of maths links I find, collect art with maths in it, and I find myself writing up an increasing number of dreary news stories.

What would have happened to you without the internet?

I’d know a lot less and I’d have a lot fewer friends, I suppose.

What does the internet need more of?

I don’t know if the internet needs anything. The question is really about what I’d like the internet to have, right?
Actually, The Aperiodical is my statement about what I want the internet to have more of. I’m happy to watch the world go by, though. I will waive this opportunity to ask for anything.

Mathematicians on the web have…

…got to see the prime-number pooing bear – http://alpha61.com/primenumbershittingbear/

Your daily web reading (mathematical or otherwise):

Far too much to list usefully.
MetaFilter, Images des Mathématiques, NOTCOT.org, Google+ is great for watching real mathematicians talk, Slashdot (only the neckbeards are left! It’s tolerable now!) and lots and lots of Twitter. Turismo matemático is a lovely little blog that I think I might be the only person following.

Mathblogging.org — The Blog by mathblogging.org is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.mathblogging.org.