May 7, 2007: It’s good to be 45 and an MLB pitcher

Roger Clemens just signed a 1 year, $28 million contract to pitch for the New York Yankees. He will be 45 in August. How many pitchers have been 45 years old and can a 45 year old pitcher really get hitters out? Let’s look at the stats…

It turns out that if Roger Clemens is still pitching when he makes it to his birthday he will be the 15^th pitcher in major league history to be at least 45 years old. He’s in very good company: the list includes Satchel Paige, the oldest at age 59, Hoyt Wilhelm at 49, Nolan Ryan at 46, Tommy John at 46, and Gaylord Perry at 45.

Baseball isn’t the only sport where old age and treachery outwit youth and skill. James Hylton vied for a spot in the Daytona 500 – at age 72, 41 years after he was named Nascar’s rookie of the year. Alas he didn’t make the cut but he is intent on qualifying at Alabama’s Talladega Speedway this month.

George Foreman won a world heavyweight title at the age of 45. If you’re vegetarian, it’s probably a toss up whether it’s more dangerous to go 10 rounds in the ring or fry a burger in the George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine, for which Foreman has made more than $150 million, nearly double what he made boxing but probably not approaching Rocky Balboa’s take.

The prize for oldest active professional sportsman in the world goes to Fred Davis. Who? Why Fred Davis the snooker player, who was 78 when he retired in 1992. Just for the record, Fred is no relation to snooker player Steve Davis.

So what is the secret to being great when you’re old? You could follow Satchel Paige’s six rules as told to David Lipman in his 1962 autobiography:

1. Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood (I think George Foreman followed this advice too)
2. If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts
3. Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move
4. Go very light on the vices, such as carrying on in society — the social ramble ain’t restful
5. Avoid running at all times
6. And don’t look back — something might be gaining on you

Roger, are you listening?

That’s today’s math behind the news. I’m Larry Shiller.

Sources:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/05/06/bc.clemens.yankees.ap/index.html?cnn=yes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satchel_Paige

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/01/16/septuagenarian_hylton_right_on.html

http://www.jameshylton.com/

May 6, 2007: Tornadoes vs. Hurricanes

The acute fury of a tornado is unmatched in nature. Yesterday, Greensburg, Kansas was destroyed by a tornado. Nine people died and rubble was 20 to 30 feet deep in places.

Nature has many ways to wreak violence and destruction: Earthquakes, volcanoes, droughts, floods, fires, blights, and plagues. Weather-wise, hurricanes and tornadoes vie for top spot. Under the right conditions, warm, damp air causes both: Hurricanes over warm, tropical oceans, and tornadoes over land. But just how do we determine which weather phenomenon is the more severe? Let’s do the math.

First let’s look at wind speed. Tornado winds have been measured at 320 miles per hour, nearly half the speed of sound and powerful enough to toss SUVs into trees. The strongest hurricanes have gusts that reach 200 miles per hour. Earth’s strongest wind is reserved for tornadoes.

Tornadoes aren’t very big in size, though; the largest span a mile or so in diameter. But they can travel hundreds of miles before dissipating. Hurricanes can be 100,000 times larger in area than tornadoes: often big enough to cover an entire country, and they also travel hundreds of miles before petering out. For total energy, hurricanes win.

Europe, Asia, and Australia all have tornadoes, but no country has a higher frequency – or severity – of tornadoes than the US, where 800 tornado reports a year is typical. Only a few hurricanes strike land each year and because their energy comes from the ocean and not the sky, they quickly lose their strength upon making landfall. Like a hive of bees, tornadoes may be small but their numbers make for an impressive impact.

The most damage ever caused by tornadoes – the Super Outbreak in April 1974 – caused over $600 million in damage. But that’s nothing compared to Hurricane Andrew, with $21 billion in insurance claims, or Katrina, with $60 billion. Hurricanes may be small in number, but have a 100 times higher capacity for destruction. And hurricanes kill more people than tornadoes, despite their lower frequency.

Just how do scientists measure tornado damage? They use the Fujita scale : F0 is the weakest and F5 the most violent. For hurricanes, it’s categories: 1 to 5 from weak to strong.

The legendary tornadoes of Kansas are memorialized in the Wizard of the Oz, filmed of course, in California. Hmm, you know, California hasn’t had an F3 tornado in 100 years. I know what you’re thinking – when was the last time there was an earthquake in Kansas? It happens that on November 9, 1968, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake was felt moderately throughout the eastern portion of Kansas. I guess no matter where we live, we all have to deal with nature.

That’s today’s math behind the news. I’m Larry Shiller.

Sources:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18502330/

http://mmem.spschools.org/grade5science/weather/hurricanevstornado.html

http://www.knowledgenews.net/science/tornadoes-hurricanes.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2005-09-09-katrina-damage_x.htm

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/forcesofnature/resources/famousforces.html

http://www.dvdtown.com/review/wizardofozthethree-disccollect/16508/3224/

http://www.tornadoproject.com/fscale/fscale.htm

May 5, 2007: Cinco de Mayo

May 5th, 1862, a date that lives on today – not as Mexican Independence Day, which is actually September 16th – but as a celebration of the Mexican militia over the French occupiers at the Battle of Puebla. Thousands across the Americas will celebrate Mexican food, music, beverage and customs with parades, concerts, and festivals.

One of the interesting sidebars to Cinco de Mayo is its date: May 5^th or 5/5. The odds of any given day of the month being the same as the month itself – let’s call this event match day – is around 3%. There are of course 12 of these each year. And something is already happening on many of these days: January 1^st is of course new year’s day, and February 2^nd is ground hogs day. What about March 3^rd and the rest of the months?

I like the idea of having a special holiday each month that’s got a math twist, so I’ve come up with a Match Day for each month for those of you who wish to celebrate this new Match Day holiday with me. January 1^st and February 2^nd are Match Days that already have good things to celebrate, so March is up next.

March 3^rd? Why that’s Money Day. The US Mint was created by Congress March 3^rd, 1791. To celebrate Money Day I’m not going to spend a dime all day.

April 4^th is Give it Up Day. Napoleon abdicated for the first time on April 4^th, 1814. From now on when April 4^th comes around I’m going to find something bad to give up for the rest of the year, like a bad habit – or at least a bad shirt.

Today, May 5^th is Cinco de Mayo, can’t improve on that.

June 6th is Connect Day. The first Internet connection was made on June 6th, 1969. I’m going to connect with at least one person I haven’t communicated with for at least 5 years. I hope they still remember me!

Let’s call July 7^th Question Strongly Held Beliefs Day. On July 7, 1456, Joan of Arc was acquitted of heresy 25 years after her death. Sometimes people are so sure of things they are willing to see other people die for their beliefs. Each July 7^th I’m going to take one strongly held belief of mine, read a good book on it, and discuss it with an open mind.

August 8^th is Father’s Day in Taiwan but the rest of the world already has one of those. And if you’re a dad, everyday is Father’s Day anyway. Instead, let’s call this Tell the World day. In 1908 on August 8^th the Wright brothers made their first flight in public. I’m going to do something I like – and hopefully am good at – in public on August 8^th.

September 9^th is Song Day, in honor of Elvis Presley’s first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956. On this day I’m going to wake up singing my favorite song. It doesn’t have to be Elvis – or even rock. For example in my case it might be the Schubert C Major cello quintet.

October 10^th is Rearrange Day. On this day in 1971 the London Bridge was reopened in Arizona. It’s a good day to move around furniture and put things where, well, you just wouldn’t expect to find them.

November 11^th is already Veterans Day in the US and Armistice Day in France and Belgium. A day worthy of Match Day.

And finally, December 12^th. Nothing spectacular seems to have happened on this day, aside from a 24% drop in the Dow in 1914. 12 12 is like 12 dozen or a dozen dozen, which is also called a gross. Gross Day! But it will be fun, not gross. I’m going to pick something I like to do and do it 144 times. Eat a grape, kiss my sweetie, smile at strangers.

The Match Day. Now we have a new holiday for nearly every month! Math opens up such wonderful possibilities, doesn’t it?

That’s today’s math behind the news. I’m Larry Shiller.

Sources:

http://www.vivacincodemayo.org/history.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_Mayo

http://trailfire.com/goodstuff/marks/93549

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

May 4, 2007: Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth II came to America yesterday. Today she’ll visit Jamestown to commemorate the 400^th anniversary of the landing on Jamestown Island of 108 members of an English settler group called the Virginia Company. But it’s a recent proposal by the city of New York that may have an ever stronger connection.

Queen Elizabeth the second is the monarch for 16 countries, including Canada, Australia, and of course, the UK. Thirty other countries have a single monarch, and Andorra has two co-monarchs. Are all monarchies created equal?

In an absolute monarchy the ruler has total power over people and land, although it is often limited by the aristocracy and/or the clergy. There are six absolute monarchies in the world today: Bhutan, Brunei, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland, and Vatican City. Exemplifying the absolute monarchy was Louis the fourteenth, who said and lived by the words, “L’etat, c’est moi,” the state: that’s me.

Vatican City is the world’s only elected monarchy. To become Pope a Cardinal must receive at least two-thirds of the votes. And a Pope can change the election rules, which is exactly what Pope John Paul the second did, to allow election by simple majority if after a certain number of ballots no election has occurred.

Constitutional monarchies are mostly representative democracies, with the monarch serving as head of state and the prime minister as head of government. In the US, both roles are held by the same person: the President.

It’s good to be Queen: monarchs have a lot of money. But they could always use more. In 1992 a fire caused $100 million damage to the Windsor Castle, and Queen Elizabeth the 2^nd asked taxpayers to pick up the tab. After considerable public outrage the Queen agreed to pay half herself. And she agreed to start paying income taxes as well.

The New York connection? No one would accuse the New York city government of being a monarchy. But to bring in more revenue, New York City Mayor Bloomberg: is looking to levy fees to drivers who venture south of 86^th St.. Maybe the idea originally came from the Queen: to pay her taxes she began charging admittance fees to Buckingham Palace tours.

That’s today’s math behind the news. I’m Larry Shiller.

Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/03/queen.visit.ap/index.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18470749/

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,269840,00.html

http://www.apva.org/history/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_monarchy

http://www.catholic-pages.com/pope/election.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_monarchy

http://www.angelfire.com/rant/kickboxthequeen/inbreeders.html

May 3, 2007: Big heists

No one was injured after $1.8 million was stolen from an armored truck yesterday.

Is that a lot of money? Just what are the biggest heists in history? It may surprise you that $1.8 million is in fact just chump change.

Art heists rank among the most celebrated. The Mona Lisa was spirited out of the Louvre in 1911 and recovered two years later – and in the interim thousands lined up to see the blank space on the wall whether the famous painting had been. Today the Mona Lisa has its own room.

Edvard Munch’s The Scream – valued at $100 million – was stolen from the Oslo’s Munch Museum in August 2004. In non-art thievery, some say that $8.8 billion was stolen from the Development Fund for Iraq, also in 2004, evidently a good year for thieves – or at least possibly politically motivated accusers.

The largest haul in US history took place in Boston in 1990 when $300 million in art, including works by Rembrandt and Manet, was taken from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The artwork remains missing today despite a $5 million reward. It’s not a surprise: The FBI estimates that only 5 percent of stolen artwork is ever recovered.

Yesterday’s armored truck heist pales to the $18.8 million stolen – and later recovered – in a 1997 heist from an armored car vault.

But the math on the annual numbers may surprise you: the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research estimates that $3 billion in art and artifacts is pilfered each year. Pilfered seems too quaint a word for that, doesn’t it?!

And with today’s technology, art may no longer be what thieves take: 9 million Americans have their identify stolen each year and the FTC estimates the cost to the US economy at $50 billion. With those numbers, what thief in his right mind would want to steal art?

That’s today’s math behind the news. I’m Larry Shiller.

Sources:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18440577/

http://www.jacksonville.com/apnews/stories/050207/D8OSHAKG0.shtml

http://www.couplescompany.com/features/politics/2004/heist.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3590106.stm

http://www.boston.com/news/specials/gardner_heist/heist/

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/stolenart1.html

http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/archives/2006/09/on_identity_the.html

http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/03/13/trustedid-this-is-important/

May 2, 2007: A new solution to immigration

For the second straight year major demonstrations were held all over the US in support of citizenship for 12 million illegal immigrants.

Wait a minute. How did we end up with 12 million illegal immigrants? Is this something new?

Most historians believe that the first American immigrants came from Northeast Asia 20,000 years ago – the ancestors of today’s Native Americans.

Vikings were almost the next set of immigrants, in the 11^th century, but they didn’t stay.

In the 16^th century 200 thousand Spaniards immigrated to Florida, the first permanent European settlement. And from there the floodgates opened to the Dutch, British, Swedish, Asians, and countless other nationalities.

I wonder, were all these people illegal immigrants?

At some point the people who lived here decided that they were the real people who belonged here, and anyone else who wanted to come was illegal unless they followed certain rules. The term immigrant was first used in 1787. At the time a distinction was made between colonists who established a new society, and foreigners who arrived only after the country’s laws, customs and language were set.

In the 1990s, legal immigration likely matched or exceeded the previous historical peak decade of the 1900s, with 8.8 million legal immigrants. Adding the settlement of illegal aliens makes the 1990s without doubt the period of greatest immigration in America’s history.

Interestingly, plotting the number of immigrants over time looks suspiciously like a sine wave. If that’s true, expect annual immigration to decrease to under one million by the year 2020. Could it be that just doing the math is the best solution to illegal immigration?

And what did the great American poet Walt Whitman have to say? “Here is not merely a nation, but a teeming nation of nations.”

That’s today’s math behind the news. I’m Larry Shiller.

Sources:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070501/ap_on_re_us/immigration_protests

http://www.cis.org/topics/history.html

http://www.rapidimmigration.com/usa/1_eng_immigration_history.html

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USA1500.htm

http://web.missouri.edu/~brente/immigr.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USA1500.htm

May 1, 2007: Blind ambition

May 1, 2007: Blind and pilot: perfect together

Blind pilot Miles Hilton-Barber flies halfway around the world. What else can blind people do?

Keywords: Miles Hilton-Barber, blind, pilot, ARMD, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, Lawrence of Arabia, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc, Malaysian Grand Prix

Learning to drive was a challenge for most of us. Learning to fly is no picnic either. And if you’re blind, you might think it impossible.

But blind pilot Miles Hilton-Barber just completed a 13,500 mile flight from London to Sydney. Hilton-Barber’s navigation instruments speak to him and he then uses a wireless keyboard to fly the plane – a microlight. Inspiring.

So what else can blind people do? Hilton-Barber is a good place to start: he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Mont Blanc, ran marathons in the Sahara and Gobi deserts and in Siberia, almost made it to the South Pole, and set a Malaysian Grand Prix lap record.

Statistics on blind people contain some surprises: 1.3 million Americans are legally blind, which means a person has central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the best possible correction, or a visual field of not more than 20 degrees. Seven thousand Americans use dog guides. On average, someone in America will become blind every seven minutes. The three major causes of blindness are glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration or ARMD, and diabetic retinopathy. Treatments exist for all three causes. Alas the unemployment rate among legally blind working age Americans is 68%. But with more people like Hilton-Barber, at least there won’t be a pilot shortage.

I close with a favorite quote of Hilton-Barber’s, from Lawrence of Arabia:

All men dream dreams, but not all men dream equally, for there are those who dream at night in the empty recesses of their minds, and they awake in the morning to find that, behold, it was just a dream. But there are other men and women who are dangerous dreamers. For these are men and women who dream in the daytime with their eyes open, that they might fulfill their dreams.

That’s today’s math behind the news. I’m Larry Shiller.

Sources:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070430/en_afp/britainaustraliaaviationdisabledoffbeat;_ylt=Ar3TULDW7X941Dw6Z8rJY2gDW7oF

http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=15

https://www.vsp.com/member/html/new_weapons_against_blindness.jsp

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