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'''MathOverflow''' is an [[interactive]] [[mathematics]] [[website]], which serves both as a [[collaborative blog]] and an [[online community]] of [[mathematician]]s. It allows users to ask questions, submit answers, and rate both, all while getting [[brownie points]] for their activities. It is modeled after [[Stack Overflow]], a similar forum for computer programming questions, and uses the [[Stack Overflow#StackExchange|StackExchange]] software engine.
It is primarily for asking questions on mathematics research – i.e. related to [[List of unsolved problems in mathematics|unsolved problems]] and the extension of knowledge of mathematics into areas that are not yet known – and does not welcome requests from non-mathematicians for instruction, for example [[Homework|homework exercises]]. It does welcome various questions on other topics that might normally be discussed among mathematicians, for example about [[Academic publishing|publishing]], [[Peer review|refereeing]], [[Doctoral advisor|advising]], getting [[Tenure#Academic_tenure|tenure]], etc. It is generally inhospitable to questions perceived as tendentious or argumentative.
== Origin ==
The website was started by [[UC Berkeley|Berkeley]] graduate students and postdocs Anton Geraschenko, David Brown, and Scott Morrison on 28 September 2009.<ref>Jared Keller, [http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/09/beyond-facebook-how-the-worlds-mathematicians-organize-online/63422/ Beyond Facebook: How the World's Mathematicians Organize Online], ''[[The Atlantic]]'', 28 September 2010</ref> The first version of the website did not support [[LaTeX]] markup for mathematical formulas, which was added later. The hosting is supported by [[Ravi Vakil]].<ref>[http://mathoverflow.net/faq#about Math Overflow Frequently Asked Questions].</ref>
== Quotes ==
*[[Terence Tao]] characterized it as "venerable newsgroup ''sci.math'', but with more modern, '[[Web 2.0]]' features."<ref>[http://terrytao.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/math-overflow/ Math Overflow], Terence Tao blog, 20 October, 2009.</ref>
*[[John C. Baez]] writes that "website 'Math Overflow' has become a universal clearinghouse for math questions".<ref>[[John C. Baez]], [http://www.ams.org/notices/201003/rtx100300333p.pdf Math Blogs], ''[[Notices of the AMS]]'', March 2010.</ref>
*According to [[Gil Kalai]], Math Overflow "is ran [sic] by an energetic and impressive group of very (very very) young people".<ref>[http://gilkalai.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/math-overflow/ Math Overflow], Gil Kalai's blog, November 13, 2009.</ref>
*[[Jordan Ellenberg]] comments that the website "offers a constantly changing array of new questions" and is "addictive" in a "particularly pure form", as he compares it to the [[Polymath_project#Polymath_Project|PolyMath project]].<ref>[http://quomodocumque.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/why-math-overflow-works-and-why-it-might-not/ Why Math Overflow works, and why it might not], Jordan Ellenberg's blog, 17 October, 2009.</ref>
*Jared Keller in [[The Atlantic]] writes, "Math Overflow is almost an anti-social network, focused solely on productively addressing the problems posed by its users." He quotes Scott Morrison saying "Mathematicians as a whole are surprisingly skeptical of many aspects of the modern Internet... In particular, things like [[Facebook]], [[Twitter]], etc. are viewed as enormous wastes of time."<ref>Jared Keller, [http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/09/beyond-facebook-how-the-worlds-mathematicians-organize-online/63422/ Beyond Facebook: How the World's Mathematicians Organize Online], ''[[The Atlantic]]'', September 28, 2010.</ref>
== See also ==
* [[nLab]]
== Notes ==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* [http://mathoverflow.net/ Math Overflow website]
[[Category:Mathematics websites]]
[[Category:Community websites]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2009]]
[[Category:Internet services supporting OpenID]]
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