Taken at face value, "twins reared apart" studies seem to prove the IQ is almost entirely genetic. But when you look at the actual science, you realize that it is entirely inconclusive — the approach just doen't work! davidbessis.substack.com/p/twins-rear...

The mathematician David Bessis believes that mathematical skill is not innate, but learned. “Genius is not an essence. It’s a state. It’s a state that you build by doing a certain job.”

His book "Mathematica" is a real eye-opener. David Bessis describes accurately and vividly the way we perceive and manipulate mathematical objects. Colleagues who read it also felt he put into words what they had not been able to formulate about the mathematical process. Highly recommended.

Just received this legitimate reader request: could I publish a French Substack, alongside the original English? (The same could be asked about my posts here.) I could, but it wouldn't be worth the effort. I'm writing for a global audience whose only lingua franca is English.

Russ Roberts’ “Econ Talk” is one of the most interesting podcasts. This episode with @davidbessis.bsky.social is truly fascinating. It got me thinking we should train students to think of research as “a dialogue between intuition and evidence.” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

Writing is hard — and it should be @davidbessis.bsky.social

“We seek numbness, avoidance of pain, oblivion...I wake up every day aiming at Christianity, and often can’t even land on Epicureanism.” @philipchristman.bsky.social sums up our times in his amazing @plough.bsky.social Book Tour Reviews: www.plough.com/en/topics/cu...

Why you can't fit Terry Tao on a bell curve, and why genius is too extreme for genetics: davidbessis.substack.com/p/why-genes-...

If you're curious about absurdly over-engineered protocols for drawing winners of public giveaways — or if you just want a free copy of my book — take a look at my new long form post. davidbessis.substack.com/p/paperback-...

"Successful math becomes so intuitive that it no longer feels like math." New long form post... davidbessis.substack.com/p/the-magic-...

Turing's high school teacher (from B. Jack Copeland's biography of Turing). More evidence for @davidbessis.bsky.social's hypothesis: great mathematicians got great by continuously reconstructing everything they were taught, for themselves. This is why Turing invented "the Turing machine" at age 23.

"I am struggling to think who would want to read this book" —new long form post! davidbessis.substack.com/p/i-am-strug...

Having fought and overcome the twin demons of anxiety and depression, there is nothing any fascist could do to scare me.

For some reason, my first long form post is suddenly getting viral: it received 2x more views in the past 30 days than in the first 3 months. davidbessis.substack.com/p/weve-been-...

Here it is finally: Our mathematical methods book for life scientists! Aimed at advanced undergrads and beginning grad students, plus all those who want a deeper look at the math behind quantitative biology. @portugueslab.bsky.social. 1/3

"With the possible exception of a few lost tribes somewhere in the Amazon or Andaman Islands, career mathematicians are the last true animists in this world." From my new long form post: davidbessis.substack.com/p/the-real-m...

I am delighted to announce that Mathematica has received Ukrainian 🍾 and Korean 🍾 translation offers, adding to the long list of international editions: French, Japanese, Italian, English, Russian, plus Greek 🍾, Chinese 🍾 and Turkish🍾 that are due soon. A total of 10 languages!

Beauty.

So: - concrete foundations for formal math - sand and mud foundations for intuitive math - no reason to do formal math if it wasn't for its "meaning" => math only exists because meaningless formalism ENHANCES our ability to build semantics => this is the true motivation of my conceptualist take

The fascinating final words of Bouchard's 1990 Science paper on IQ & twins reared apart. While the paper is methodologically unsound — and its results aren't to be trusted — I actually enjoy the boldness of their conclusion. Make no mistake, the stakes are super high!

❤️❤️❤️

Philosophers: logic is the foundation of mathematics. Mathematicians:

This was phenomenal. There is also a wonderful critique of Kahneman's System 1 and System 2 theory; Bessis proposes that it is missing System 3, a way of mediating or meditating between 1 and 2.

Beyond nature and nurture: How mathematics changed my view on talent davidbessis.substack.com/p/beyond-nat...

"While asleep, I had an unusual experience. There was a red screen formed by flowing blood, as it were. I was observing it. Suddenly a hand began to write on the screen [...] a number of elliptic integrals. They stuck to my mind." — Srinivasa Ramanujan

This reframing won't happen unless high-brow academics initiate it — because math is too intimidating for other people (including math teachers) to feel entitled to reframe it. This is why I'll keep on exposing & promoting the latent epistemology of my book. davidbessis.substack.com/p/weve-been-...

If someone asked you what the number "e" is, and they didn't know anything about calculus, how would you explain the meaning and significance of this marvelous number? Here was how I approached the challenge in my book The Joy of x.

Not sure if this works when walking the dog, but here's the full set of illustrations: davidbessis.substack.com/p/a-visual-c...

Wow, look at who's tweeting about my book 🥰! x.com/AlbertEinste...

Just realized that the French word "bredouille" is basically impossible to translate into English: "empty-handed" doesn't even carry a tenth of the expressivity of "bredouille".

"On imagine souvent que les mathématiques s'occupent de la recherche de vérités universelles, de motifs qui ne sont ancrés dans aucun contexte précis." 1/3 William P. Thurston (The Best Writing on Mathematics 2010, Edited by Mircea Pitici) via @davidbessis.bsky.social #Mathematica

Rare footage of the great H.S.M. Coxeter getting his hands dirty with actual mirrors—I'm in love! www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfyW...

My coauthor is a ghost.

Damn, I made an incorrect statement in Chapter 2 of Mathematica: some people *do hate* spoons. But this validates the core lesson from Chapter 18: outside of mathematics, there's no such thing as absolute truth.

I have to say that reading the book has transformed my approach to understanding not only Mathematics (I am currently pursuing a degree in Maths) but also other areas of interest, such as music, software, and more.

"The real satisfaction from mathematics is in learning from others and sharing with others." Bill Thurston via @davidbessis.bsky.social #Mathematica mathoverflow.net/questions/43...

"Le travail mathématique n'est pas un enchaînement de fulgurances et de coups de génie. C'est en premier lieu un travail de rééducation basé sur la répétition des mêmes exercices d'imagination." @davidbessis.bsky.social #Mathematica

The book Mathematica by @davidbessis.bsky.social is ostensibly abt maths but is really about _understanding_ Genuine understanding on any topic feels like intuition. It’s the music in one’s head. Not music notes on paper A lesson I learn 2 weeks before reading this book Right book at right time

Dear Audible readers, to make up for the absence of an accompanying booklet with the illustrations and tables, I've posted the full set on Substack. Thanks to those of you who have complained, and my apologies to everyone! Link here: davidbessis.substack.com/p/a-visual-c...

Second lifetime achievement of the week: have a Fields medallist comment on your LinkedIn post ✅

"We've been wrong about math for 2300 years" — the long form version is out! Please share if you enjoy it: davidbessis.substack.com/p/weve-been-...

In “Mathematica: A Secret World of Intuition and Curiosity,” David Bessis writes that math should be thought of as a physical practice of sorts, like yoga or martial arts — something that can be improved through training. www.quantamagazine.org/mathematical...

"This book held me hostage", "I found myself highlighting passages with such frequency that it rivalled my experience with Nassim Taleb's Antifragile — a personal benchmark for transformative reading." A great review of Mathematica by Andrew Pennachio: www.themettleist.com/p/mathematic...

How I woke up one day and decided to solve a math conjecture from the 1970s... 1/17

For #math fans... fantastic popular math #book from David Bessis, "Mathematica" (including barely any textbook math)... odd, personal 'intuitive' approach to mathematics. #nonfiction

"Mathematica, a Secret World of Intuition and Curiosity" is out today — phew! It took me 20 years to fail to write it and 1 to actually write it. In a nutshell: it's a book about what actually goes on inside a mathematician's head, blurbed by Fields medallists. yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

Mathematica: A Secret World of Intuition and Curiosity — I love the subtitle that Yale University Press chose for the English translation of Mathematica. It will appear in May 2024. yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...