If you bothered with my resume on one of the previous pages, you know I own a B.S. (ominous initials) in mathematics. For a few weak moments I thought about going further in math studies, maybe even on to a doctorate. Then in my senior undergraduate year I took the first graduate course in real analysis, called "baby real variables" by cynical profs. I got a B in the course, which really wasn't too bad. But I had to work for the grade, which persuaded me that slogging to a math Ph.D. was not something I wanted to do.
Instead I used my math background and a lot of additional study to get through the actuarial exams. To this day I need a reasonable amount of math literacy to perform my probability-and-statistics-soaked job. But I can't claim to be any more than a trifling amateur compared to the brilliant pros who doggedly push forward the wild and difficult frontier of mathematical knowledge.
While the term "popular mathematics" may seem a clunking oxymoron, at least the results of some mathematical studies have interested many people who couldn't be dragged close to a math textbook. The beautiful and weird world of fractals and chaos theory, for instance, has produced bestsellers and well-attended art shows. For more on areas of mathematics that have piqued the curiosity of even the most confirmed math-phobes, try this link:
And if more peeks at this web site would stimulate even non-mathematical interest, try any of these: