Why Does Math Matter?
A writer turned math nerd explains why mathematical literacy should be part of every education.
Jennifer Ouellette was an English major who long “avoided all math,” as she put it. Today, the author of The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse recalled asking her math teacher what every student wants to know: why does math matter in every day life? “He gave the usual stock answers,” she said. “But when you start to see where calculus is in the real world, that’s when you start to see where it’s useful....
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Who Was Jesus Christ?
How ordinary men determined his divine and human nature.
Book Review: Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1,500 years
by Philip JenkinsThe difficult but critical doctrine that Jesus Christ is two different reflections of the same phenomenon — fully God and fully man in one being — was developed during late antiquity. It is one of that period’s great intellectual achievements, one that determined who Jesus Christ was, who he is today,
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FEUILLETON
Edge
Heavy metal Has the style of music lost all its power?
Mexploitation Filmmaker Richard Rodriguez aims to start a new genre.
BOOKS
Taking Down a Mosque
The introduction to Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Stephan Salisbury’s investigative memoir Mohamed’s Ghosts is titled “How to Take Down A Mosque.” It’s an eye-grabber....
How Bad is Climate Change?
Science writer Usha McFarling explains why it's so hard to understand the climate change problem.
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About Zócalo Public Square
Zócalo Public Square connects people to ideas and to each other in an open, accessible, non-partisan and broad-minded spirit. Through our web magazine, lectures, panels, screenings, and conferences, Zócalo takes on ideas that enhance our understanding of community—the forces that strengthen or undermine human connectedness and social cohesion.
We believe that over specialization and narrowcasting undermine the public square and are committed to welcoming a new, young and diverse generation to the conversation.
Established in Los Angeles in 2003, Zócalo roams across L.A., and has traveled to Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, and as far as Shanghai, Berlin and Guadalajara. In our seven years, we have featured over 800 compelling thinkers and doers from a wide range of fields—politics, governance, humanities, health, economics, education, technology, foreign policy, arts, science and beyond—who explore how we see and relate to one another, be it locally, regionally, nationally, or globally.
Upcoming |
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2010,
Jonathan Gold's Second Annual Union Station Speakeasy Cocktail Party
Celebrate the speakeasy style of downtown L.A. with Zócalo, Jonathan Gold, craft cocktails by 213, fare from the city's finest restaurants, and beats by KCRW's Garth Trinidad.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010,
Are Celebrity Chefs Good for Food?
Chefs have always had a knack for fame — from Julia Child to Napoleon’s personal chef, who published lucrative cookbooks and invented the tall white chef’s hat. But today, thanks in part to the Food Network, several seasons of "Top Chef" and "Hell’s ...
Monday, September 20, 2010,
Does Better Design Make for Better Health?
Hospitals and clinics are not generally considered well-designed places for today’s healthcare needs. Work spaces for doctors and nurses can be crowded, too close to patient treatment areas, and missing new technology that would streamline care. At hospitals, patient rooms often lack ...
Books
Zócalo Public Square Book Prize
Zócalo will award $5,000 to the author of the book that most enhances our understanding of community.
American Dreams
by H.W. Brands
A sprawling history of the last 60 years says individual dreams have taken over collective ones.
The Muslim Brotherhood
by Barry Rubin
Essays explaining what Rubin calls the most successful Islamist group in the world.
The Shot
