Robert Low
@robjlow.bsky.social
Ex maths lecturer. Now classics postgrad (MA) @ClassicsWarwick. Also @[email protected], mostly maths there. Mostly lurking for the moment, haven't yet given up on Twitter completely.
"Great classical scholar and part-time prime minister Gladstone" 😂
January 31, 2026 at 2:50 PM
"Great classical scholar and part-time prime minister Gladstone" 😂
He was a real character.
January 31, 2026 at 1:50 PM
He was a real character.
"Everyone we care about in every place we care about. The Scots, Welsh and Irish can obviously take a running jump."
(Though this may be one of those cases where being left out is a Good Thing, Actually.)
(Though this may be one of those cases where being left out is a Good Thing, Actually.)
January 29, 2026 at 8:54 AM
"Everyone we care about in every place we care about. The Scots, Welsh and Irish can obviously take a running jump."
(Though this may be one of those cases where being left out is a Good Thing, Actually.)
(Though this may be one of those cases where being left out is a Good Thing, Actually.)
I'd probably have gone with 'Open Sesame' and missed the opportunity :-(
January 29, 2026 at 8:51 AM
I'd probably have gone with 'Open Sesame' and missed the opportunity :-(
I don't know if it's still the case, but in Scotland we certainly used the f o g notation for composition when I was at school.
January 28, 2026 at 11:21 AM
I don't know if it's still the case, but in Scotland we certainly used the f o g notation for composition when I was at school.
The (or rather, one) great thing about Syme is that even if we should get to the point where nobody believes anything he wrote, it would still be worth reading just for the writing.
January 27, 2026 at 4:40 PM
The (or rather, one) great thing about Syme is that even if we should get to the point where nobody believes anything he wrote, it would still be worth reading just for the writing.
Good question - I don't know who's responsible for the cultural appropriation, but I'm sure it's there. I'm open to the suggestion that there are layers of appropriation to be uncovered :-)
January 27, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Good question - I don't know who's responsible for the cultural appropriation, but I'm sure it's there. I'm open to the suggestion that there are layers of appropriation to be uncovered :-)
Seems like a good time for a folk etymology to emerge.
January 27, 2026 at 11:51 AM
Seems like a good time for a folk etymology to emerge.
Cultural appropriation alert!
January 27, 2026 at 10:58 AM
Cultural appropriation alert!
I thought she was just using a guillotine to cut the pages of a new edition.
January 26, 2026 at 1:09 PM
I thought she was just using a guillotine to cut the pages of a new edition.
I find it physically very difficult to read books in that typograph. My eyes just want to avoid it...
January 26, 2026 at 11:15 AM
I find it physically very difficult to read books in that typograph. My eyes just want to avoid it...
Though we do have teuchters and lowlanders.
January 25, 2026 at 3:40 PM
Though we do have teuchters and lowlanders.
Social media arguments are almost inevitably dominated by shouty minorities.
January 23, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Social media arguments are almost inevitably dominated by shouty minorities.
Scary bit is the day one of them says "you taught my mum/dad".
January 23, 2026 at 7:59 AM
Scary bit is the day one of them says "you taught my mum/dad".
I mean, if the referees didn't even notice that the references (presumably in their areas of expertise) didn't exist, how seriously do we take their opinion of the content?
January 22, 2026 at 11:40 AM
I mean, if the referees didn't even notice that the references (presumably in their areas of expertise) didn't exist, how seriously do we take their opinion of the content?
Alternatively, explain that coping with this stuff is the time management skill that they will inevitably put on their CV as having been learned on the course.
January 20, 2026 at 9:05 PM
Alternatively, explain that coping with this stuff is the time management skill that they will inevitably put on their CV as having been learned on the course.
Though *a* limit (the Cauchy Principal Value) does. You may find it pleasing or unconscionable that sometimes it seems to be provide a sensible value. The interesting questions are, of course, when is it sensible and why is it sensible? (Because that's when there's more going on than meets the eye.)
January 20, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Though *a* limit (the Cauchy Principal Value) does. You may find it pleasing or unconscionable that sometimes it seems to be provide a sensible value. The interesting questions are, of course, when is it sensible and why is it sensible? (Because that's when there's more going on than meets the eye.)
Commiserations. Hope you recover soon. I recommend cocoa and bedrest.
January 20, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Commiserations. Hope you recover soon. I recommend cocoa and bedrest.
Far too many people don't seem to have picked up on the basic idea that a mask is more useful to stop somebody who's already sick from infecting others than it is to protect a healthy person.
January 20, 2026 at 11:59 AM
Far too many people don't seem to have picked up on the basic idea that a mask is more useful to stop somebody who's already sick from infecting others than it is to protect a healthy person.
Probably interesting (time permitting) to use the power series to approximate arcsin(x) for smallish values of x and compare to the calculator value.
January 20, 2026 at 11:03 AM
Probably interesting (time permitting) to use the power series to approximate arcsin(x) for smallish values of x and compare to the calculator value.
Ignorance is bliss...
January 19, 2026 at 10:10 AM
Ignorance is bliss...