A few months ago one of the strongest research universities in Australia advertised a continuing (like tenure-track) position in mathematics for female applicants only. Shortly thereafter, two other first-tier universities followed suit. I wasn’t privy to the politics behind the decisions, but I heard gossip that at my university there wasn’t much of an opposition. It seemed people treated it… Read more →
After the recent death of the great Leonard Cohen, I binge-listened to his songs for about a week. Music, like scents, can bring up a lot of memories. I came to know Mr. Cohen’s music when I was about 17, and many of his songs resonated well with my teenage anxieties about love and intimacy. When I think about my… Read more →
*Disclaimer: Contrary to what some of these posts suggest I am a reasonably stable, functioning adult.* For as long as I can remember my inner world has often revolved around the ebb and flow of guilt. Guilt is the negative emotion I most often struggle with, and the one which I have the least control over. I can conquer anger,… Read more →
TL/DR: I became a mathematician because I was a socially awkward five-year-old and things just kind of snowballed from there. The early days My mathematical career started in kindergarten. Until I was five years old I stayed home with my mom and two younger siblings, even though a free full-day pre-school and kindergarten program was available from age three, and… Read more →
I’ve been owing a chocolate post for quite some time now, one that I promised you could use the Best Chocolate Frosting Ever for. When I was young we would get a bag of these little bite-sized cookies from a bakery; they were a big childhood favourite of mine. I always thought they would be way too much effort to… Read more →
My sister used to vacation with me and my math friends for a week each summer; as you might guess she has a lot of patience. By the end of each vacation she was well-trained: she would laugh at our jokes, use words like “trivial”, “modulo” and “orthogonal” in casual conversation, and even get their meaning right. She became, for… Read more →
I promise I won’t turn this into a mommy blog, but I think I owe a follow-up to the previous post. So here is how the first month of parenthood turned out. I’ll still call my spouse Pink and I’ll call our baby Pixie (it’s a bad translation of the nickname I call him in Hungarian). Day 0: labour and… Read more →
I will call my spouse Pink from now on. There’s no deep reason for this other than that he wore pink to our wedding. I don’t know how I’m supposed to choose pseudonyms. On to the actual post: From about age four to 34, I went through many episodes of the baby fever. They varied in severity and some were… Read more →
As a child I was enrolled in music lessons, after-school art classes, swimming, ballet and ballroom dancing lessons, and math and chemistry coaching for competitions. My parents would sign me up for anything I showed interest in. We had season tickets to the opera, the ballet and the symphony. From age 10 to 18 I went to a prestigious school… Read more →
I had promised that the next chocolate post would be about cute little cookies that you can fill with the best chocolate frosting ever, but that post takes some work to write (just like the cookies take some work to make). In the meantime, here is a way to make something that looks fancy with very little effort. I’ve just… Read more →