Math Overflow is an interactive mathematics website, which serves both as a collaborative blog and an online community of mathematicians. 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 StackExchange software engine.
Origin
The website was started by Berkeley graduate students and postdocs Anton Geraschenko, David Brown, and Scott Morrison in October 2009.[1] 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.[2]
Quotes
- Terence Tao characterized it as "venerable newsgroup sci.math, but with more modern, 'Web 2.0' features."[3]
- John C. Baez writes that "website 'Math Overflow' has become a universal clearinghouse for math questions".[4]
- According to Gil Kalai, Math Overflow "is ran [sic] by an energetic and impressive group of very (very very) young people".[5]
- 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.[6]
See also
Notes
- ^ Math Overflow, Secret Blogging Seminar post, October 14, 2009.
- ^ Math Overflow Frequently Asked Questions.
- ^ Math Overflow, Terence Tao blog, 20 October, 2009.
- ^ John C. Baez, Math Blogs, Notices of the AMS, March 2010.
- ^ Math Overflow, Gil Kalai's blog, November 13, 2009.
- ^ Why Math Overflow works, and why it might not, Jordan Ellenberg's blog, 17 October, 2009.
External links
- Math Overflow website
- Jared Keller, Beyond Facebook: How the World's Mathematicians Organize Online, The Atlantic, September 28, 2010.
 | This website-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This mathematics-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |