For Pi Day: The Mathematicians of Travalanche

Today (3.14) is joshingly celebrated now as Pi Day (as distinct from Pie Day) and we thought we would take the opportunity to point out the tiny number (ha, I said “number”) of mathematicians we have celebrated on Travalanche. The image above is a tribute to Byron’s daughter Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, done by my wife the Mad Marchioness, who obviously admires the pioneering lady computer. Carolyn’s dad and brother are both high end math guys. Get some of her Ada Lovelace merch for your very own here!

As for Travalanche, we proceed to note the handful of mathematics whizzes we know of within our walls. We encourage you to click on the links below to read the full posts. As always, we do NOT encourage your suggestions of people you’d like added to the list.

Interestingly, two famous children’s authors whom we’ve written about were professional mathematicians:

Charles Dodson a.k.a. Lewis Carroll

Even those of us (most of us) who claim to truly love Alice’s Adventures can’t claim to appreciate the whole author, for a good bit of what Carroll devised had to do with his career as a mathematics lecturer at Oxford. He loved to devise puzzles and problems in logic. And of course to subvert logic, which is one of the chief joys of his literature for children.

A.A. Milne

Attended Cambridge on a mathematics scholarship.

We have also written about two performers who shared their remarkable math skills on the variety stage:

Professor Hutchings, the Lightning Calculator

Jacques Inaudi, The Piedmont Prodigy

It’s a cliche by now that great musicians are also math people. Two notable ones:

Artie Shaw

Big band genius, who actually dropped out of show business a few times in order to study advanced mathematics.

Fletcher Henderson

Had a degree in chemistry and mathematics from Atlanta University.

And last but hardly least, there’s this guy:

Chico Marx

There was no such thing as a stupid Marx Brother, though Leonard (Chico) was happy to be the member of the team to pretend to be one. In real life he was known as a math whiz, able to do problems in his head with impressive speed, a very useful skill when calculating percentages for contracts — and odds at the betting table.

For related reading, you may enjoy No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous.