GoKawiil
Tech News
A review discusses 'Big Math: The Hidden Codes That Run Our World' by Steven Strogatz and Alex Townsend, which explores how mathematical techniques like the Fourier transform underpin technologies from radio signals to machine learning. The book opens with computer scientist Regina Barzilay's work developing a breast-cancer risk prediction model using machine learning after her own cancer treatment in 2014.
A technical blog post from researcher Ben Recht examines a math result released by OpenAI that claimed to compute faster Fourier transforms. Recht explains the mathematics behind the Fast Fourier Transform, originally devised by Cooley and Tukey in 1965, and argues that OpenAI's claimed speedup does not represent a genuine algorithmic breakthrough.
A technical blog post walks through how the Fourier transform can be used to reconstruct a hand-drawn path, such as a llama, by summing rotating vectors (epicycles) of different frequencies, radii, and starting angles connected tip to tail. The author shows progressively complex examples, from a straight line and square to a fish, culminating in a llama drawn using 1024 circles.
A newly published online text presents an unconventional, visually driven introduction to the Discrete Fourier Transform, aimed at digital signal processing learners. Rather than relying on dense mathematical proofs, it uses interactive diagrams, animations, and audio examples across roughly 30 pages to build intuition. The author frames it as a supplementary, pop-science style resource rather than a rigorous textbook replacement.