On March 7 one of my favorite bloggers, Kevin Drum, passed away from a longtime fight with cancer. To say he will be sorely missed is great understatement. From my limited perspective, his was the last of the original type of weblog, namely one written by a single person with multiple postings per day. And his perspective was unique. It was the only blog I’ve seen that largely concentrates on data analysis of economics, science, medicine, societal trends, and on and on, in a clear, succinct, and informative manner. The text is further supported with simple graphs that provide visual clarity to the analysis.
Meditations on Mathematics
A compendium of puzzles, problems, math inquiries, and math commentary.
I wish I could say exactly what it is about this Kevin Drum remembrance that is so satisfying, but I don’t recall details well, and I’d have to go back to gather up, oh yeah this, oh yeah that. But, like Kevin’s writing, as I read this from Jim Stevenson, I found myself thinking, yeah, oh yeah right, oh I’m glad he said that about our Kevin, and so well. This writing flows super easily into my head, like Kevin’s writing, one idea leading easily and clearly to the next with no confusing digression or prideful dramatic flourish or goofy tangents or leaps that leave me lost. Those careless or lazy or inept bad teaching leaps are maybe the worst. Kevin never did that. He could teach like a champ. I’ll be on the lookout now for a brain or two that can teach so well that even I can get it.
Oh, and I’m so glad Jim found and shared the Calpundit logo.