Obscura

11. Chudnovsky

The Chudnovsky were two brothers (David and Gregory) whose love for math helped them overcome poverty and disease. Both brothers were born in the Soviet Union near Kiev. Although Gregory was five years younger than David, it was clear that Gregory had a definite talent for math. Both brothers, though, got a Ph.D. in mathematics from the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Unfortunately, Gregory was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disorder of the muscles. Soon, it got so bad that the brothers had to move to Paris and then the U.S.A. for help. At first the Soviet Union didn't let them, but once the media heard about it, they were permitted to leave because of much pressure from the world. The brothers bought an apartment in the Upper West Side of Manhattan and rented two supercomputers to calculate PI on. There were two problems though. The first one was that Gregory was writing, running, and monitoring the whole PI-calculating process from in bed. The other was that they were renting a supercomputer and living the rest of their life off of their wives' pay. In addition, a supercomputer generates a lot of heat. The brothers were forced to build their own supercomputer from parts in their apartment, and they still had a money problem. Fortunately, Gregory was awarded a MacArthur Foundation fellowship in mathematics. This not only solved their money problem for many years, but gave Gregory full medical coverage too. The money helped them upgrade their supercomputer. That computer helped them set world records in calculating PI with 480 million, 1 billion, and 8 billion digits. Unfortunately, they don't hold the record now.

3.
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posted by Cobb @ 3:07 PM

10. Horowitz
Abstract

Many Americans have been involved in a continuing struggle to right the wrongs
done in this country. They do so out of a sense of loyalty and dedication
to the nation. Not every battle has been won, or even addressed. Slavery and
its aftereffects is one such matter which have yet to be settled with finality.
The author takes the position that a great theft has taken place. And those
who have been robbed have never been financially compensated nor apologized
to for that great crime. Reparations can be a resolution to that. The author
is also an admirer of Charles Ogletree who has taken up the case of American
Reparations and will be following this saga with great attention.

posted by Cobb @ 2:42 PM

9. William Kentridge

Drawn from local collections, this exhibition of work by internationally renowned South Africa artist, William Kentridge, features drawings, prints, film and preparatory drawings for films. Kentridge's moody, powerful and expressive work tells the story of a post-industrial society that is in disrepair - similar to the current state of South Africa as it copes with the scars of apartheid.

posted by Cobb @ 11:33 AM

8. Black Sholes
The famous Black-Sholes solution for pricing derivative is based on the
assumption that the log of price returns are normally distributed.

posted by Cobb @ 9:46 AM