Comics about mathematics, science, and the student life.

Brick Walls

A researcher stands in front of three brick walls labelled, "Project 1", "Project 2", and "Project 3". Caption: Don't load yourself up only with projects that feel like brick walls.

Going for big impact is great, but it’s nice to at least have something to switch your mind to when you’re stuck.

16 Nov 2022

Explicit

A student stands on a ledge looking at a huge gap with very thin sticks protruding along the gap that act as a "bridge". The other side has the label "Result" and the sticks have the label "Explicit steps in a proof for too many papers".

It’s almost as if the researchers have spent so long looking at this problem that they’ve internalized all of its difficulty for new readers…

14 Nov 2022

Advocate

A graph of "How cool X seems" versus "Time spent studying X". The relationship is linear, and where both are high, there's a label: Why it's hard to get others excited about X.

So this is why my family and friends look at me in horror and confusion when I insist on explaining them a proof or concept from my research that probably requires huge amounts of background study.

11 Nov 2022

Small Steps

A student walks up a long slope towards the top, where there's a sign labeled "PhD". The student tells himself, "Don't look up, don't look up. You still have a long way to go." Caption: Focus on the next few steps.

Exercise some self-discipline now, witness some great sights later!

09 Nov 2022

Reading Papers

A graph of "Progress in reading a paper" versus "Time". There's a staircase progression as I understand the various equations, followed by a huge drop when I realize I didn't understand the equations the first time around. Then it goes up again.

It’s a minor miracle if I understand a paper on the first read.

07 Nov 2022

Into the Unknown

A person jumps off a ledge labeled, "Known knowledge". The person jumping into the void has the label, "Research".

If we knew we would succeed, it wouldn’t be research!

04 Nov 2022

Osmosis

Two researchers walking together. The first says, "Wouldn't it be a good idea to offer the grad students formal training on research and teaching?" The other waves the concern away and says, "Nah, they'll learn by osmosis from their advisor."

“We didn’t get any of that when we were younger, and we turned out fine!”

02 Nov 2022

Out of Proportion

Graph of "Chance of losing students" versus "Number of proportional signs in a derivation". The curve increases faster than linearly.

“Professor? Could you maybe use a few more equal signs?”

“Oh, the equality is easy. I’ll let you fill in the details after class.”

31 Oct 2022

Easy Answers

A graph of "How hard a question is to answer" versus "How hard it seems". The curve is a "U" shape.

Academia is really good at finding the minimum of this function, though I would argue the easy-sounding questions are the ones we want to dig deeper on.

28 Oct 2022

Digging

A fellow scientist peers over a huge hole to her physicist friend and shouts, "You're still digging?!" The caption: Fundamental physics.

Fundamental physics: Asking “why” more often than a child since time immemorial.

26 Oct 2022