Prime Numbers Are Written On Your Hand: You Simply Have Not Been Counting Correctly,
2026
Seoul National University
Prime Numbers Are Written On Your Hand: You Simply Have Not Been Counting Correctly, Nona Servais Kamdem Simo, Awa Traore
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
Prime numbers have resisted systematic description for over two millennia. We propose that part of the difficulty may lie in an insufficiently attentive examination of one’s own hands. In particular, we assign the natural numbers to the joints of the human hand according to a cyclic traversal protocol, and make a handful of observations which can naturally be translated into number-theoretic properties of prime numbers. We show that these properties lead us to natural activation thresholds of a unified three-phase sieve algorithm — the resulting framework provides, for the first time, a zone-based partition of the admissible space with explicit …
Developing A Learner-Centered Teaching Routine,
2026
Abilene Christian University
Developing A Learner-Centered Teaching Routine, Hyeeun Jang
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
This paper shares my story of developing, from Fall 2022 to Spring 2025, a learner-centered teaching routine for my undergraduate mathematics courses. I use four steps: an opening question, a short mini lecture about meaning, structured small group work, and a short end-of-class exit check, at times supported by quick visuals in Mathematica and, when useful, Python. Instead of relying on extended traditional lectures, the routine emphasizes collaborative problem solving and invites students to articulate and check their reasoning together. I used this routine mainly in my elementary statistics classes, but also in calculus and linear algebra. The evidence I …
Numbers, Patterns, And Memories: Early Experiences Of Mathematicians And Mathematics Education Researchers,
2026
University of Agder, Kristiansand (Norway)
Numbers, Patterns, And Memories: Early Experiences Of Mathematicians And Mathematics Education Researchers, Constantinos Xenofontos
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
This paper offers a reflective analysis of early mathematical experiences shared by fifty-six mathematicians and mathematics education researchers, including my own, as part of Cambridge Mathematics’ “Seven Questions with . . . ” interview series. Drawing on thematic analysis, I identify five key patterns across participants’ recollections: the context of early mathematical engagement, the influence of significant others, emotional responses, shifts in mathematical thinking, and mathematics as a social or competitive experience. Many accounts emphasise informal, everyday encounters with mathematics—often preceding formal education—as central to developing interest and confidence in the subject. The findings challenge the notion of innate mathematical …
Preparing Undergraduates To Philosophize With Children About Mathematics,
2026
The University of Texas at El Paso
Preparing Undergraduates To Philosophize With Children About Mathematics, Lawrence M. Lesser
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
This paper shares my reflections and insights from preparing and facilitating a session in a weeklong inaugural study away program for undergraduate students (especially philoophy majors). My session was a vehicle for helping these students experience or visualize how the program’s Philosophy for Children (P4C) approach could be applied to exploring and discussing mathematics with children.
The Dynamics Of Vincent Van Gogh,
2026
Adelphi University
The Dynamics Of Vincent Van Gogh, Monica Morales Hernandez
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
This article explores the interplay between Vincent van Gogh’s distinctive artistic style and principles of fluid dynamics, particularly through metaphorical comparisons. Van Gogh’s swirling, turbulent brushstrokes in works such as The Starry Night and Wheatfield with Crows evoke the chaotic and dynamic behaviors found in fluid motion, like vortices and turbulence. Although there is no documented scientific influence from fluid dynamics on van Gogh’s art, the parallels between his emotive, flowing techniques and the mathematical principles governing fluid behavior offer a unique lens to appreciate both his artistic innovation and the science of fluid dynamics.
Mathematicians Against The Tide,
2026
Università di Perugia
Mathematicians Against The Tide, Nicola Ciccoli
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
Mathematicians in popular culture are often depicted as people obsessed by their studies but with little connection to society, poor social skills, mental issues and narrow interests, and more generally a dull life. Adding to these explicit stereotypes, subtler and more implicit ones also abound, regarding mathematicians’ gender, ethnicity, age; they are all supposed to be white middle-aged men. In this paper I describe a project aimed at disrupting such stereotypes that culminated in a book containing short comics and biographies of twentieth-century mathematicians that were, with respect to the perceived image of mathematicians, against the tide.
Waiting For The Magic: A Historical And Mathematical Study Of Queues In Disney Theme Parks,
2026
The Hewitt School
Waiting For The Magic: A Historical And Mathematical Study Of Queues In Disney Theme Parks, Nina E. Becket
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
This paper, written as part of an honors research project in high school, provides an introduction to the line and queuing systems at Disney theme parks. We begin with a brief history of Disney World and its creators. We then introduce the basics of queuing theory and queuing notation. Finally, we examine modern line systems at Disney (as of 2023) and the future of its different queue systems.
An Exploration Of Mathematical And Musical Connections,
2026
California State University, Long Beach
An Exploration Of Mathematical And Musical Connections, Jeffrey Pair, Egypt Pannell, Dani Rodriguez, Jerico Sarmiento
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
In this paper, we present an introduction to some of the mathematical principles underlying music and mathematically develop a connection between the twelve musical notes and the group of integers modulo twelve. Our discussion touches on the simple mathematical ratios used to calculate consonant musical tones on the length of a string, the frequencies of tones and the method by which the twelfth root of two provides the foundation of equal temperament tuning, some algebraic connections to musical concepts like the euphonious circle of fifths, and a curious connection to twin primes.
Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic On Mathematics Achievement And Problem-Solving Ability: Insights From Secondary Schools In India,
2026
Manipur University
Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic On Mathematics Achievement And Problem-Solving Ability: Insights From Secondary Schools In India, Laishram Nirtish Singh, Anand Jyoti Sanasam, Jocyline Thokchom, Ningombam Cha Cogent, Laisom Sharmeswar Singh
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted students’ engagement with mathematics. This study aims to contribute to our understanding of the extent of this disrupting by examining differences in mathematics achievement and problem-solving ability between adjacent cohorts who learned Class 8 under different schooling conditions in India: Group A (pandemic-exposed Class 8 cohort) and Group B (post-reopening Class 8 cohort). Using a descriptive design in a natural setting, we selected a stratified sample of 1,200 students from Class 9 and Class 10 across 21 secondary schools in Manipur, India. The sample was stratified by gender, family type, school type, and locality to ensure …
"Math Is Like A Rollercoaster": Exploring Math Similes And Metaphors,
2026
University of Minnesota Duluth
"Math Is Like A Rollercoaster": Exploring Math Similes And Metaphors, Carmen M. Latterell, Janelle L. Wilson
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
In this article we explore the metaphors and similes that pre-service elementary teachers use to describe mathematics. Employing qualitative content analysis, we separately coded the metaphors and similes into conceptual categories and analyzed themes that emerged. This grounded theory approach led to the creation of seven categories of metaphors and similes and three overarching themes. Math was viewed as a journey, a puzzle, a personal experience, a creative process, an algorithm, infinite, and an embodied process. Pre-service elementary teachers viewed mathematics as a process that takes effort. Overall, mathematics is a positive experience for them. In addition, mathematics involves fitting …
Cultivating Mathematics Teacher Educators’ Hearts, Critical Consciousness, And Professional Praxis Through Book Study,
2026
Saint Mary's College of California
Cultivating Mathematics Teacher Educators’ Hearts, Critical Consciousness, And Professional Praxis Through Book Study, Mary Raygoza, Missy D. Cosby, Sheila Orr, Barbara King, Justin T. Burris, Siddhi Soni
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
At a time when executive orders and state legislation are attempting to ban practices promoting equity, belonging, and social justice from education, specifically STEM education, in the United States, mathematics teacher educators (MTEs) remain committed to humanizing mathematics teaching and learning practices and seek opportunities to learn how to adhere to their convictions while preparing mathematics teachers for the classroom. This paper offers reflections and considerations for how the authors engaged interested MTEs to shift or strengthen their individual and collective professional praxis through a book study. Specifically, we examine the design (the what) and process (the how) of a …
Piracy, Terrorism, And The Law: Differential Equations In Hostage Situations,
2026
Faculty of Law, Ono Academic College
Piracy, Terrorism, And The Law: Differential Equations In Hostage Situations, Gabriel Hallevy
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
Pirates have taken the crew of an American ship hostage. They promise to release the hostages only if another pirate who is held in an American prison for commission of piracy crimes against American citizens, is released. Should the U.S. government enter into negotiations with them? Should they send armed forces and risk the hostages? Should they release the prisoner immediately and unconditionally? The article models and analyzes possible policies regarding sensitive situations involving hostages and other related risks using differential equations. The solutions are surprisingly simple, but not necessarily intuitive. Our analysis aims to demonstrate how powerful mathematics is …
Grationality, With A Spoon,
2026
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Grationality, With A Spoon, L. Jeneva Clark
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
I introduced grationality at a 2025 sectional meeting of the Mathematical Association of America to install a handle on a concept akin to rationality of numbers, but in a geometric context. More specifically, we define a nice n-gon to be a regular n-gon with side lengths that are natural numbers; then a number n is grational if and only if there exists a nice n-gon such that its area equals the sum of areas of n congruent nice n-gons. In this paper I offer several examples of grational and non-grational numbers, followed by theorems about how the grationality of a …
The Set Card Game And Partitions Into Maximal Caps: A Partial Difference Sets Approach,
2026
Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania
The Set Card Game And Partitions Into Maximal Caps: A Partial Difference Sets Approach, John Polhill
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
More specifically, we revisit the problem of determining the maximum number of cards that can be dealt in the SET® card game without any matches, which is well known to be equivalent to the problem of determining the size of a maximal cap in the affine space AG(4,3). We present a new approach to the problem by using partial difference sets, a method that is equivalent to using strongly regular graphs with a regular automorphism group. The paper includes several possible avenues for future investigations on how partial difference sets might be used in related problems.
A Method For Folding Origami Rectilinear Polygon Extrusions,
2026
St. Mark's School of Texas
A Method For Folding Origami Rectilinear Polygon Extrusions, Everett L. Jin
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
We present a method for generating crease patterns for folding any rectilinear polygon extrusion with a specified uniform minimum edge-to-edge distance, using a rectangular sheet of paper. We demonstrate that the resulting models are efficient and watertight. In addition, they achieve optimal efficiency, meaning they attain the smallest possible scale factor from the original sheet of paper to the folded rectilinear polygon extrusion. Finally, we provide a code implementation of the method. Our study not only facilitates crease pattern design for origami artists but also offers an innovative, art-driven pedagogical tool for inspiring interest in mathematics.
Manipulating Mathematics,
2026
Claremont McKenna College
Manipulating Mathematics, Mark Huber, Gizem Karaali
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
No abstract provided.
Front Matter,
2026
Claremont Colleges
Sums Of Consecutive Integers And Sequence Of Divisors,
2026
Rowan University
Sums Of Consecutive Integers And Sequence Of Divisors, Mushrat Fatema, Abdulkadir Hassen
STEM Student Research Symposium Posters
This work is concerned with two problems in number theory. The first part is to find the maximum number of sequence of integers such that two consecutive numbers in the list are multiple or factor of the other, and integers that can be expressed as a sum of consecutive integers.
Error-Tolerant Metric Dimension,
2026
San Jose State University
Error-Tolerant Metric Dimension, Leander Ten Hoff
Master's Theses
Metric dimension is a graph parameter that measures the smallest distance-based unique coordinate system on a graph. Fault-tolerant metric dimension is a variant that requires redundancy. Inspired by this idea, we propose and investigate a new variant we call error-tolerant metric dimension. We first prove some fundamental results to gain familiarity with this more complex variant. Then, we use these tools to study relative behaviors of error-tolerant metric dimension. We prove explicit computations for simple graph families, including bipartite complete graphs and paths. Finally, we extend extremal results from previous papers on metric dimension, including a full correction of an …
Probabilistic Metric Dimension,
2026
San Jose State University
Probabilistic Metric Dimension, Kyle Worley
Master's Theses
The metric dimension of a graph G is the smallest number of unique vertices (often called “marked vertices” or “landmarks”) such that each vertex has a unique distance to the marked vertices. If a set of vertices S ⊆ V (G) when marked gives all vertices unique distances, it is called a resolving set. Hence if G is a graph with a resolving set S, then for all v, u ∈ V (G) there exists s ∈ S such that d(v, s) ̸= d(u, s). The metric dimension dim(G) = min(|S|). Two widely studied variants exist, one where edges are …
