Inspired by Math!

Julie Rehmeyer writes about mathematics and science for Science News, Wired, Discover and other magazines. Julie and I discuss a bunch of things. Do you have a story of when you first realized that you really liked math? How did you get into writing about math and science? Have you always been a writer? Tell us about your math education and how that's served your writing career. You've written quite a number of articles for Science News and for Wired Magazine. Where do your ideas for articles come from? And, what's your secret for weaving mathematical ideas into interesting stories? Would you share your process of going from an idea to a completed article? What's the interaction like with the publisher? How long does it take to write an article? What's your writing process like? What's a typical day like? Is there a favorite article or two among the many you've written? I notice that there are very few women math communicators. Why is that? And, which other women should I try to interview for this series? What advice would you give to girls and young women (or really anyone) who think they might want to become math writers? The question I ask everyone: What advice would you give to a parent whose child was struggling with math in school?

Why is spherical trigonometry a lost art? What is "Heavenly Mathematics" about and what background is needed to learn the material? To you spherical trigonometry is an exquisite branch of mathematics. How so? What calculations could be performed accurately a few hundred years ago, or earlier? What techniques are used to determine the size of the earth, or the distance to the moon? What is the most elegant theorem of spherical trigonometry? How is spherical trigonometry important today in the context of modern technology? Is there a next book? What advice would you give to a parent whose child was struggling with math?

How did you become a NYT columnist? How did "The Joy of x" get such a clever title? How did you get inspired by math? What makes you such a great math communicator? Who has influenced you? Tell us about one of your other books, "The Calculus of Friendship." Is there a next project? What advice would you give to a parent whose child was struggling with math?

[ Note: Audio quality choppy in places. We did the best we could. ] What motivated you to edit "Best Writing on Mathematics?" How did you pick 24 articles to include from thousands? Who is your audience? What makes a piece of writing beautiful the way a painting or a proof is beautiful? Tell us a bit about your life and how you first became interested in math. What advice would you give to a parent whose child struggled with math?