By the numbers

"In the end, it should always come down to the maths."  That was the wisdom of my sixth grade teacher, Mr. Balsam, who spoke about mathematics the way the Brits do -- calling it maths instead of math.  (He taught there for a couple of years in the 60's, before coming back to the colonies.)

The point he was making is that a facility with numbers is essential to proper decision making, by providing an orderly and logical underpinning for sifting through the information that bombards us.

So, I am sure that Mr. B was pleased that math was one of big winners in last week's election, according to Smithsonian Magazine's Smart News blog:

"New Yorker reporter Ryan Lizza said this morning that after months of campaigning, the result of the 2012 election “was a huge victory yesterday for math.” Wired called 2012 “the nerdiest election in the history of the American Republic.”'

How many times does a comic referencing math go viral?  This one from the online comic site XKCD, did (it was mentioned in the above story):