Non-Research Writings of Jeffrey S. Rosenthal

Hello. I hope you enjoy these writings. Any comments are most welcome. See also my book Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities, and the media articles which mention me below. Happy reading!

Articles about Mathematics in our World

(These articles can all be read and understood regardless of your mathematics background.)

THE MAGICAL MATHEMATICS OF MUSIC. Published in Plus Magazine, May 2005. (See local copy and also a related radio interview.)
A SIMPLE SOLUTION TO THE MONTY HALL PROBLEM, August 2006. By popular demand!
MONTY HALL, MONTY FALL, MONTY CRAWL (pdf), June 2005. Uses the Proportionality Principle to truly explain the infamous Monty Hall problem. Published in Math Horizons, September 2008.
THE MATHEMATICS OF YOUR NEXT FAMILY REUNION (pdf), October 2011. Who is your "first cousin twice removed", and how closely are they related to you? Published in Plus Magazine (with Appendix), December 2011.
LESSONS FROM A TWISTED CAREER PATH. Reflections upon my academic career path that ultimately led to receiving the COPSS Presidents' Award. (Book chapter for forthcoming COPSS volume; February 2013.)
HOW PROBABILITY THEORY NEARLY DESTROYED CANADA. Lessons from the political events of June, 1990 about Canadians' attitudes towards randomness. Published in Outreach Connection, October 2005.
My ARTICLE ABOUT THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL LOTTERY SYSTEM. Published in the National Post, September 10, 2005.
MARGINS OF ERROR IN OPINION POLLS, 2003. How to compute that a poll is "accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20".
My PAGE ABOUT W.K. HASTINGS, the Canadian co-developer of the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, March 2004.
FOREIGN POLICY BY THE NUMBERS, a mathematician's perspective on global events, July 2005.
I wrote a number of PROBABILITY QUIZZES, some of which were published in Saturday Night Magazine before they folded.
My REVIEW OF A BOOK ABOUT COXETER was published in the Globe and Mail, October 14, 2006.
My article LOTTERY FRAUD: SOLVING CRIMES USING MATH, published in the RCMP Gazette, Vol. 70, No. 1, February 2008 (aussi en francais dans Convergence), based on my earlier investigations.
My article I'M BIASED, YOU'RE BIASED, written for Sublime Magazine, March 2008.
See also my book STRUCK BY LIGHTNING: THE CURIOUS WORLD OF PROBABILITIES, and my other BOOKS and RESEARCH PAPERS.

Other Non-Fiction

THEY ZAPPED ME WITH LASERS. An article about my experiences with PRK laser eye surgery. (A condensed version was published in The Outreach Connection, Sept. 23, 1998, page 14.)
IMPROV AND MUSIC: AN UNUSUAL DUO. A short article about providing musical accompaniment for improvisational comedy shows. (Published in Theatre Sports Toronto's newsletter, Novemver 2001.)
WHY I FAST ON YOM KIPPUR. A brief reflection on being secular and Jewish.
A CALL FOR A NEW PROGRESSIVE PARTY OF CANADA. Thoughts about Canadian electoral politics in the aftermath of Jack Layton's death (August 2011).
DOUGLAS HOFSTADTER AND ME. A recollection of the time I met my childhood idol Douglas Hofstadter, and accidentally insulted him.
My LIST OF FAMOUS CANADIANS.
My LEAN COMPUTING computer philosophy, and the related NO MICROSOFT WORD ATTACHMENTS plea.
My article IN SUPPORT OF THE SINGULAR "THEY".
I have also had letters to the editor published in the Globe and Mail, Maclean's, U of T Bulletin, and Canadian Humanist News.

Fiction, Etc.

Over the years, I have written various short stories and poems. A few of them are listed here. They're far from perfect, however you might possibly find them interesting. (If you do, then please let me know.)

TWEEZERS (1990). A short story inspired by a dream I had.
HOW EASY IT IS (1993). Another short story, this one developed over a longer period.
THE SPACE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1990). A light Star Trek spoof.
A BRIEF MEMORY OF SEVENTEEN (2001). A new story about an old memory.
A WEEKEND IN ALGONQUIN (2003). A story inspired by my camping trips.
FAREWELL TO PARADISE (1984). A short poem from long ago, occasioned by the departure of a close friend.
See also my animation, computer games, music, and drawings.

Media Articles Which Mention Me

An ARTICLE ABOUT BASEBALL AND PROBABILITIES, by Murray Campbell, published in the Globe and Mail on March 31, 2001.
An ARTICLE ABOUT DISEASE PANDEMICS AND FEAR, by Lianne George, published in Maclean's, September 28, 2005.
An ARTICLE ABOUT MY BOOK AND ASSESSING RISK, by Olivia Ward, published in the Toronto Star on October 8, 2005.
A FILM-NOIR-STYLE REVIEW OF MY BOOK (scanned: Page 1, Page 2), by Glenn Garnett, published in the Toronto Sun on October 23, 2005.
An ARTICLE ABOUT ME AND MY BOOK, by Tania Therien, published in the Calgary Herald, November 19, 2005.
An ARTICLE ABOUT ME AND MY BOOK [or here], by Kate Fillion, published in Maclean's, November 25, 2005.
An ARTICLE ABOUT CANADIAN ELECTION POLLS, by Robert Benzie, published in the Toronto Star, January 21, 2006.
An ARTICLE ABOUT FEAR, by Georgie Binks, on the CBC web site, February 3, 2006.
An ARTICLE ABOUT ME, MY BOOK, MY TEACHING, AND MY IMPROV, by Stacey Gibson, published in U of T Magazine, Spring 2006. Reprinted (in condensed form) in the September 2007 issue of Reader's Digest Canada, the most read magazine in Canada.
An ARTICLE ABOUT THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS' PLAYOFF PROBABILITIES, by Mike Strobel, published in the Toronto Sun, April 13, 2006. (See also the probability calculcations that I used.)
An ARTICLE ABOUT LOTTERY PROBABILITIES, by Ellen Roseman, published in the Toronto Star, April 30, 2006.
An ARTICLE ABOUT THE TELEVISION SHOW 'DEAL OR NO DEAL', by J. Kelly Nestruck, published in the National Post, May 30, 2006.
A GLOBE AND MAIL FRONT PAGE ARTICLE AND NEXT-DAY EDITORIAL AND TORONTO STAR ARTICLE ABOUT INSIDER LOTTERY WINS. Also numerous other media coverage, plus Ontario legislature debate #1 and #2 and a Freakonomics blog entry and more. All inspired by the Fifth Estate episode of October 25, 2006 that I consulted for.
An ARTICLE ABOUT HOMICIDES AND RANDOMNESS, by Dan Gardner, published in the Ottawa Citizen, July 25, 2007.
An ARTICLE ABOUT HOMICIDE STATISTICS, by Paola Loriggio, published in the Toronto Star, January 19, 2008.
An ARTICLE ABOUT BLACKJACK AND THE MOVIE "21", by Constance Droganes, published at ctv.ca, March 29, 2008.
A PANEL REVIEW OF THE MOVIE "21", published in the National Post, April 4, 2008.
SOLVING EQUATIONS AND SOLVING CRIME, by Thane Burnett, published in the Toronto Sun, February 22, 2009. ("Rosenthal already defied convention, or at least the image of a math professor who's married to a librarian.")
An ARTICLE ABOUT PEDESTRIAN DEATHS in the Toronto Star, with a SHORTER VERSION on the front page of Metro News, Jan 29-30, 2010.
An ARTICLE ABOUT PROBABILITIES in Vegas Seven, Feb 18, 2010.
See also my book-related publicity activities.

[contact me / Home Page]