The Beautiful Formula Mathematicians often conduct competitions for the most beautiful formulae of all. The first position, almost every time, goes to the formula discovered by Leonhard Euler. Displayed below is the formula. This formula is phenomenal because it is a combination of the five most important constants in mathematics i.e. 0 : Additive Identity 1 :
Sherlock Holmes & Data Visualization As a kid, a friend of mine used to own a Sherlock Holmes toy kit – the source of envy for all the other friends. The kit had a Sherlock Holmes cap, a pipe, a watch and a magnifying glass. The magnifying glass was the most coveted item in the
A Scientist & An Artist A few weeks ago while wandering around in Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, I could not escape the thought of Leonardo da Vinci : the greatest polymath of all times. Leonardo’s illustrious resume contains titles such as painter, inventor, physicist, astronomer, engineer, biologist, anatomist, geologist, and architect – no
A Case for Wise Models Lehman Brothers, a financial services company, filed for bankruptcy on 15th September 2008 – exactly five years from today. A company founded in 1850 disappeared overnight. The chain of events to follow brought the overall financial system across the world to its knees – hence started the biggest economic crisis
Evolution of Biology & Medicine with Big Data I learnt a couple of facts when I was around 14 years old. First, that the chimpanzee genome is more than 95% identical to the human genome. Second, that the genomes of two different humans is 99% identical. The genome is the building block of life.
Facebook and Indian Elections India is going to have its 16th national elections in the middle of next year. Around 450 million* people are expected to vote in the elections. This will require a huge infrastructure just to conduct the elections. On top of this, political parties are going to shove huge amounts of cash
Year-One of Analytics – A Crucial Juncture I am a big fan of the graphic novel – Batman: the Dark Knight Returns – by Frank Miller. I almost lost my faith in Batman after watching the utterly ridiculous television series from the 60s – based on camp aesthetic. Batman was more of a joker in
Columbus – A lesson in Leadership Christopher Columbus – I have adored this man for various reasons at various stages of my life. At seven, I adored him because his mistakes were applauded and became part of history – Columbus mistook Native Americans for Indians because he thought he had landed in Asia rather than
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. – Albert Einstein A Commentary on Curiosity I think the best way to appreciate and enjoy the trivial is to travel. When I say trivial, it includes doorknobs, posters,
A Primer on Logistic Regression – Are you Happy? A few years ago, my wife and I took a couple of weeks’ vacation to England and Scotland. Just before boarding the British Airway’s plane, an air-hostess informed us that we were upgraded to business class. Jolly good! What a wonderful start to the vacation. Once