Comics about mathematics, science, and the student life.

Confusion

"What's it like to be a scientist?" "It's being in a state of perpetual confusion." "Sounds...fun?" "Oh, it's the best in the world!"

I start getting worried if I’m not confused at least fifteen times a week.

Breathing Room

A large area which represents the intrusive thoughts of others, while a smaller region is the quiet island of your own thoughts.

If you’ve ever had a song stuck in your head, this is exactly the problem.

Knot Theory

A comparison of stories. On the left, a satisfying story that has its threads start off untangled, get knotted in the middle, and then are untangled at the end. On the right, an unsatisfying story that has its threads all tangled and knotted, without any resolution.

The truth though is that the best stories leave me wanting more, with some of the minor threads still a little knotted.

Away

Time needed to get back into a coding project versus time away from it. The graph starts negative, since I spend even my off-time thinking about it. But after a certain threshold, there's a phase transition where you end up wondering if you even wrote it.

I’m just beginning my two-week vacation now, so we’ll see how it goes when I return!

Storage

A bird looking at a human: "Wow, that big brain is amazing! You must do a lot with it?" Human: "Nah, I use it mostly as a storage bin."

I do sometimes try to use it for creativity.

Data Collection

Left panel: The black box computer says, "Here are your results after eight hours of computation." The student says, "Thanks!". Right panel: The student says, "So I finished collecting the data." The professor says, "Oh, why don't you try this small tweak?"

The number of “small tweaks” asked of you is inversely proportional to the effort needed to implement them.

Flow

Two skiers. The one at the top: "This seems a little dangerous..." The one already zooming down: "Just go with the flow!" Caption: Rigour meets handwaving.

Or is it the physicist meeting the mathematician?

Decoherence

Plot of frequency versus how long my good ideas last. Most of the ideas seem good for about ten minutes.

This comic idea felt like a good idea when I made it… It’s a good thing I drew it in under ten!

Warning Label

A label: Warning! Leaps of logic, a lack of clear steps, unnecessary references, and complex language follow. Proceed with caution. Caption: The label that should be attached to most papers.

In the far future, a supervisor sits down with their graduate student on their first meeting.

Supervisor: “You’re about to embark on an incredible journey. You will read lots of papers, and now these warnings are attached to nearly all of them.”

Student: “Will I ever see one without a warning?”

Supervisor: “I’ll put it this way: I still haven’t.”

Domain Fight

A scientist approaches the Name Tavern. "Welcome to the Name Tavern! What name would you like to reserve for your discipline?" "I'd like to register the name 'Astrology' for, you know, those of us who study the stars." "Alright, coming right up..." "Wait a second. I'm sorry, but it looks like another group registered it about an hour ago." "What?! Who could have done such a thing?" "I don't know. They did mention birth signs."

Those astrologers know that getting the perfect domain name is the first step to appearing legitimate.