Matt Macauley
@visualalgebra.bsky.social
Associate Professor (Clemson) | AIMS Lecturer (South Africa) | Author: "Visual Algebra" (forthcoming) | YouTuber | First Gen | Homesteader | Dad to Ida & Felix | 🔱
Pinned
Matt Macauley
@visualalgebra.bsky.social
· Nov 23
a woman is sitting on a couch in front of a wall that says `` welcome ! everything is fine . ''
Alt: "Everything is Fine" opening scene from NBC's "The Good Place", with Kristen Bell.
media.tenor.com
I used to post long #VisualAlgebra threads on #MathTwitter before realizing that I was actually in #TheBadPlace. I'm going to make my debut #MathSky thread today, with visuals that I've never publicly shared. (Can you guess the topic?) I'm excited to show you, and I hope you enjoy!
1/19 🧵👇
1/19 🧵👇
Too funny not to share!
ruin your thanksgiving by reading new york magazine's take on mathematics
![The Ten Most
Ridiculous-Sounding
Math Classes Currently
Offered at Liberal-Arts
Colleges
By Jessica Pressler, Janelle Zara, and Emily Watkins Rachel Stein andAviva Shen OCT. 19, 2010
Every year, liberal-arts majors anxiously scour their college's course listings looking for classes that will fulfill their math requirement but aren't so, you know, math-y. Here's what they're signed up for this year.
10. Topology: The Nature of Shape and Space: "In geometry we ask: How big is it? How long is it? But in topology we ask: Is it [Sarah Lawrence
9. The Mathematies of Chance: "Most topics are introduced ina case-study fashion, usually by reading an article in a current periodical such as the New York Times. [Bard]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5itm7jsyrdqdxizkb4cufqxl/bafkreieq6gmwmropzlvjkaaxk6d2smd4tv4dy7qar66uoyv6mhs6naa3fu@jpeg)
![8. Mathematics in Many Cultures: "Mathematical ideas are found in many cultures, among both literate and non-literate peoples. This course examines both mathematics and the role it plays in the cultures. Examples chosen from the mathematical ideas of present-day peoples of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, as well as historic Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Islam and China." [Pomona]
7. The Magic of Numbers: "This course will explore the beauty and mystery of mathematics through a study of the patterns and properties of the natural numbers 1, 2, [and] 3." [Harvard
6. Models of Life: In particular, we will ask such questions as: How do you model the growth of a population of animals? How can you model the growth of a tree? How do sunflowers and seashells grow?" [Kenyon]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5itm7jsyrdqdxizkb4cufqxl/bafkreic3c4ox53ouwr3ij3wsmvetmuknu2u2jai7hlvuigco3ahppeoabi@jpeg)
![5. Mathematical Origamist's Toolkit: "Topics include modular origami and how this models the creation of polyhedra and coloring of graphs, comparison of origami-axiomatic constructions to straight-edge and compass constructions, the combinatorics of possible crease patterns, the mathematics of origami design (circle packing, optimization), matrix models for paperfolding, spherical geometry, Descartes' Theorem, and Gaussian curvature." [Hampshire]
4. Mathematics and Narrative: "Many literary works (Arcadia, Proof, and Uncle Petros and the Goldbach Conjecture) use mathematics as an integral part of their narrative. Movie and television narratives such as Good Will Hunting and Numb3rs are also mathematically based. Nonfiction works about mathematics and mathematical biographies like Chaos, Fermat's Enigma, and A Beautiful Mind provide further examples of the connection between mathematics and narrative." [Vassar]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5itm7jsyrdqdxizkb4cufqxl/bafkreigyk5tqjszw3fodt7ivmszq7mozpta55o7c552oyzpbqyphl26x7m@jpeg)
![3. Borges and Mathematics: "Jorge Luis Borges was one of the most important writers of the 20th century. Many of his short stories and essays were concerned with philosophical, metaphysical, and mathematical questions. The thesis motivating this course is that if we know the mathematies that Borges referred to, then we will read him differently, and we will read him better." [Bennington 2. Mathematics and Science as Art in Contemporary Theatre: "Playwrights such as Tom Stoppard, Rinne Groff, Michael Frayn, and others have effectively explored mathematical and scientific themes for artistic purposes. Through readings and exercises, and by conducting labs and staging scenes, this class will gain some first-hand insight into the complementary ways in which science and art aim to seek out their respective truths." [Middlebury]
1. Meaning, Math, And Motion: "Quoting a charming articulation by Kinsman (a mathematician-turned-oceanographer, in the preface to Wind Waves): "To the beginner, science is a conversation that has been in progress for a very long time. Our collective work is to catch up on the conversation. [Evergreen]
This is why Asia is winning, by the way.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5itm7jsyrdqdxizkb4cufqxl/bafkreihglx3kxej43i22j4vggyoutp2oyomivtmmvgp6uvslqemm4hhpci@jpeg)
November 27, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Too funny not to share!
Reposted by Matt Macauley
Hearing news that Carl Dieffenbach, the Director of the Division of AIDS at #NIH (NIAID), has been removed from his position because he was "not aligned with HHS/OMB."
Russell Vought continues to remove great scientists as part of the Project 2025 mission to politicize and destroy NIH.
🧪 1/
Russell Vought continues to remove great scientists as part of the Project 2025 mission to politicize and destroy NIH.
🧪 1/
November 24, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Hearing news that Carl Dieffenbach, the Director of the Division of AIDS at #NIH (NIAID), has been removed from his position because he was "not aligned with HHS/OMB."
Russell Vought continues to remove great scientists as part of the Project 2025 mission to politicize and destroy NIH.
🧪 1/
Russell Vought continues to remove great scientists as part of the Project 2025 mission to politicize and destroy NIH.
🧪 1/
Reposted by Matt Macauley
November 24, 2025 at 11:46 PM
More fall fruit that I’m growing. Fun facts: the kiwis can’t be picked until the first freeze (last week). The Yuzu has survived single-digit (F) temperatures.
November 17, 2025 at 4:51 AM
More fall fruit that I’m growing. Fun facts: the kiwis can’t be picked until the first freeze (last week). The Yuzu has survived single-digit (F) temperatures.
Reposted by Matt Macauley
This talk was given on September 12 in the New York Combinatorics Seminar. Here's a link to the recording. youtu.be/BX6VkFHwn-g?...
November 17, 2025 at 2:22 AM
This talk was given on September 12 in the New York Combinatorics Seminar. Here's a link to the recording. youtu.be/BX6VkFHwn-g?...
Fall in my orchard. Flying dragon hardy citrus in front of Fuyu persimmon fall foliage.
November 11, 2025 at 3:42 AM
Fall in my orchard. Flying dragon hardy citrus in front of Fuyu persimmon fall foliage.
I got *a lot* of positive feedback about this sign tonight from (parents of) trick-or-treaters.
November 1, 2025 at 2:05 AM
I got *a lot* of positive feedback about this sign tonight from (parents of) trick-or-treaters.
October 29, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Looking for suggestions! I rarely watch mainstream movies, but I enjoy international films, especially from non-Western cultures. But I don’t know how to find the best ones.
Do you have any favorites? Here are some I’ve watched in the past few years.
Do you have any favorites? Here are some I’ve watched in the past few years.
October 26, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Looking for suggestions! I rarely watch mainstream movies, but I enjoy international films, especially from non-Western cultures. But I don’t know how to find the best ones.
Do you have any favorites? Here are some I’ve watched in the past few years.
Do you have any favorites? Here are some I’ve watched in the past few years.
I'm sure this will be controversial, because it's a pro-AI post on a notoriously anti-AI site (BlueSky).
I'm almost 45 and have never written a UNIX shell script. So I asked ChatGPT for help, and it gave me the following in a matter of seconds. It's really good at this sort of thing.
1/2
I'm almost 45 and have never written a UNIX shell script. So I asked ChatGPT for help, and it gave me the following in a matter of seconds. It's really good at this sort of thing.
1/2
![ChatGPT's result of the following prompt: Part 1/2:
"Can you give me a UNIX bash shell script for compiling all files like math8530_slides-n.tex (n=1,2,3,4,5,6,7), and twice each so the page number counts works, and then copying each pdf to a file named math8530_slides-n_h.pdf, and them removing all .aux and .log files?"
Nice and straightforward — below is a small, safe bash script that does exactly what you asked:
loops n=1..7,
for each math8530_slides-n.tex runs pdflatex twice (so page numbers / references resolve),
copies math8530_slides-n.pdf → math8530_slides-n_h.pdf,
removes the corresponding .aux and .log files for that base name,
prints helpful messages and continues on errors (doesn't abort the whole run).
Save this as e.g. build_slides.sh, chmod +x build_slides.sh, and run ./build_slides.sh in the directory containing the .tex files.
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -u
# Build math8530 slides 1..7: run pdflatex twice for each, copy pdf to _h version,
# and remove .aux and .log files for each.
#
# Edit PDF_ENGINE if you prefer xelatex/lualatex or latexmk.
PDF_ENGINE=pdflatex # change to xelatex or lualatex if desired
TRIES=2 # number of times to run the engine for each file
for n in {1..7}; do
base="math8530_slides-${n}"
texfile="${base}.tex"
pdffile="${base}.pdf"
outcopy="${base}_h.pdf"
if [[ ! -f "$texfile" ]]; then
echo "Skipping: $texfile not found."
continue
fi
echo "=== Building $texfile ==="
success=true
for i in $(seq 1 $TRIES); do
echo " [$i/$TRIES] Running $PDF_ENGINE on $texfile ..."
# -interaction=nonstopmode prevents interactive prompts; -halt-on-error makes the run exit nonzero on errors
"$PDF_ENGINE" -interaction=nonstopmode -halt-on-error "$texfile" > /dev/null 2>&1
rc=$?](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:yxyo3tr72b3e2caxy5qcidep/bafkreibvgcwhriwp76dwuidshkd34zzymfdbm56dequfowccorpxvr435i@jpeg)
![ChatGPT's result of the following prompt: Part 2/2:
"Can you give me a UNIX bash shell script for compiling all files like math8530_slides-n.tex (n=1,2,3,4,5,6,7), and twice each so the page number counts works, and then copying each pdf to a file named math8530_slides-n_h.pdf, and them removing all .aux and .log files?"
if [[ $rc -ne 0 ]]; then
echo " ERROR: $PDF_ENGINE failed on pass $i for $texfile (exit code $rc)."
success=false
break
fi
done
if [[ "$success" = true ]]; then
if [[ -f "$pdffile" ]]; then
echo " Copying $pdffile -> $outcopy"
cp -f "$pdffile" "$outcopy"
else
echo " WARNING: Expected $pdffile but it was not produced."
fi
else
echo " Skipping copy/cleanup for $base due to compilation error."
continue
fi
# remove only the aux and log files for this base name
for ext in aux log; do
f="${base}.${ext}"
if [[ -f "$f" ]]; then
rm -f "$f"
echo " Removed $f"
fi
done
done
echo "=== Done ==="
Notes / options
If you prefer latexmk -pdf -silent (it handles reruns automatically), replace the compile loop with latexmk -pdf -silent "$texfile".
The script currently silences pdflatex output (> /dev/null 2>&1) to keep the terminal tidy; remove that redirection if you want to see full compile logs while it runs.
It removes only *.aux and *.log corresponding to each math8530_slides-n file (safe). If you want to remove more auxiliary extensions, add them to the for ext in ... list.
Want a variant that aborts on the first error (instead of continuing) or one that uses latexmk? I can paste that too.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:yxyo3tr72b3e2caxy5qcidep/bafkreicx7fnb5py3h775gdj4dads5mnfwltjybsz5yjc2kfpeh4hj4kubu@jpeg)
October 24, 2025 at 1:26 PM
I'm sure this will be controversial, because it's a pro-AI post on a notoriously anti-AI site (BlueSky).
I'm almost 45 and have never written a UNIX shell script. So I asked ChatGPT for help, and it gave me the following in a matter of seconds. It's really good at this sort of thing.
1/2
I'm almost 45 and have never written a UNIX shell script. So I asked ChatGPT for help, and it gave me the following in a matter of seconds. It's really good at this sort of thing.
1/2
One of the silver linings of being a lifelong fan of one of the least successful baseball teams is that I had COMPLETELY forgotten how stressful this is! 😩
October 20, 2025 at 10:59 PM
One of the silver linings of being a lifelong fan of one of the least successful baseball teams is that I had COMPLETELY forgotten how stressful this is! 😩
GET OUT THE MUSTARD AND RYE BREAD!!!
I can hear Dave Niehaus calling it.
🔱🔱🔱🥹
I can hear Dave Niehaus calling it.
🔱🔱🔱🥹
October 18, 2025 at 1:04 AM
GET OUT THE MUSTARD AND RYE BREAD!!!
I can hear Dave Niehaus calling it.
🔱🔱🔱🥹
I can hear Dave Niehaus calling it.
🔱🔱🔱🥹
BIG DUMPER!!! 🔱🔱🔱🔥🔥🔥
October 18, 2025 at 12:49 AM
BIG DUMPER!!! 🔱🔱🔱🔥🔥🔥
This is just embarrassing. Has to be one of the worst strike calls of the year. #TridentsUp 🔱
October 17, 2025 at 11:11 PM
This is just embarrassing. Has to be one of the worst strike calls of the year. #TridentsUp 🔱
Watching the game with my kids. The Mariners score, and the 9 changes to a 10. My 2-year-old son Felix looks back at me, points at the TV, and says “mo mo! mo mo!” as he puts his hands together to make the baby sign for “more”. 🥹😂🔱💙💛
October 14, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Watching the game with my kids. The Mariners score, and the 9 changes to a 10. My 2-year-old son Felix looks back at me, points at the TV, and says “mo mo! mo mo!” as he puts his hands together to make the baby sign for “more”. 🥹😂🔱💙💛
Mathematical Finance event in Wellington called the New Zealand All Black-Scholes
Combinatorics event in Flushing called the New York Stem
Numerical Linear Algebra event in Florida called the Tampa Bay Rayleigh quotients
October 10, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Mathematical Finance event in Wellington called the New Zealand All Black-Scholes
Numerical Linear Algebra event in Florida called the Tampa Bay Rayleigh quotients
Probability Theory event in Nevada called the Las Vegas Sample Spaces
Back-to-back topology events in the Twin Cities called the Minnesota Hopf Lynx and the Minnesota Wild Knots
October 9, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Numerical Linear Algebra event in Florida called the Tampa Bay Rayleigh quotients
Group theory event in India called the Lucknow Supersolvable Giants
Newtonian mechanics event in California called the San Francisco Giant Shoulders to Stand On
Taylor series event in Spain called Real Analytic Madrid.
October 9, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Group theory event in India called the Lucknow Supersolvable Giants
Taylor series event in Spain called Real Analytic Madrid.
Computational algebra event in Ontario called the Toronto Maple
Back-to-back topology events in the Twin Cities called the Minnesota Hopf Lynx and the Minnesota Wild Knots
October 9, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Taylor series event in Spain called Real Analytic Madrid.
Back-to-back topology events in the Twin Cities called the Minnesota Hopf Lynx and the Minnesota Wild Knots
Differential equation solvers event in Alberta called the Edmonton Euler Method
Simulation event in Ohio called The Cleveland Brownian Motion
October 9, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Back-to-back topology events in the Twin Cities called the Minnesota Hopf Lynx and the Minnesota Wild Knots
Algebraic number theory event in Southern California called The Los Angeles Ramified Primes
Higher-dimensional quadric surfaces event in Washington state called The Seattle Superconics
Lotka-Volterra event in Tennessee called The Nashville Predator–Prey Models
October 9, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Algebraic number theory event in Southern California called The Los Angeles Ramified Primes
Lotka-Volterra event in Tennessee called The Nashville Predator–Prey Models
Set theory event in Missouri called The St. Louis Inaccessible Cardinals
Number theory event in Minneapolis called the Minnesota Twin Prime Conjecture
October 9, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Lotka-Volterra event in Tennessee called The Nashville Predator–Prey Models
Number theory event in Minneapolis called the Minnesota Twin Prime Conjecture
PDE event in Florida called The Miami Heat Equation
An Alexandrov geometry event in New York called The Brooklyn Polyhedral Nets
October 9, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Number theory event in Minneapolis called the Minnesota Twin Prime Conjecture
An Alexandrov geometry event in New York called The Brooklyn Polyhedral Nets
An Apollonian geometry event in Wisconsin called The Green Bay Circle Packers
October 9, 2025 at 5:43 PM
An Alexandrov geometry event in New York called The Brooklyn Polyhedral Nets
Geoduck
What’s the word where you’re from that, when pronounced exactly as it looks, identifies a tourist immediately?
October 9, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Geoduck