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Each column spotlights math that is useful, fun, inspiring, or startling. The Feature Column was founded in 1997: if you peruse our archives, you will find timeless ideas as well as the first hints of new ways to use mathematics!</p> We write these columns for students, teachers, and the general public, as well as for mathematicians. Thus, we try to make it possible for people at many different levels to get something out of what is here. This does not mean that everything in each column will interest you or that you will be able to understand everything. We encourage you to skip around, dip into different sections, or re-read as necessary: discovery is not a linear process! Mathematicians are trained to look at ideas in special ways that often differ from those of other intellectually curious people. We hope that our calling these approaches to your attention helps you understand what is special about mathematics. We welcome feedback on these columns, though we can not promise to respond in all cases. We hope you will enjoy reading these columns. We know that we enjoy preparing them for you. <p><h1>About the Feature Column Authors</h1></p> <table> <thead> <tr> <th colspan="2" align="left" valign="top"></th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-47 size-thumbnail" src="https://i0.wp.com/mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/fcAuthorLargeCasselman.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1" alt="The mathematician Bill Casselman" width="150" height="150" /><strong>Bill Casselman</strong><br>Department of Mathematics<br> University of British Columbia<br> Vancouver, Canada</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-43 size-thumbnail" src="https://i0.wp.com/mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/09/courtney-gibbons-2022-square.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1" alt="The mathematician Courtney Gibbons" width="150" height="150" /> <strong>Courtney Gibbons</strong><br>Mathematics and Statistics Department<br> Hamilton College<br> Clinton, NY</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"><strong><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-43 size-thumbnail" src="https://i0.wp.com/mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/fcAuthorLargeMalkevitch.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1" alt="The mathematician Joseph Malkevitch" width="150" height="150" />Joseph Malkevitch</strong><br> Department of Mathematics/Computing<br> York College (CUNY)<br> Jamaica, NY</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-36 size-thumbnail" src="https://i0.wp.com/mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/StoudtHeadshot-square.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1" alt="The mathematician and statistician Sara Stoudt" width="150" height="150" /><strong>Sara Stoudt</strong><br> Mathematics Department<br> Bucknell University<br> Lewisburg, PA </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-36 size-thumbnail" src="https://i0.wp.com/mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/anil_headshot-square.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1" alt="The mathematician Anil Venkatesh" width="150" height="150" /><strong>Anil Venkatesh</strong><br> Mathematics and Computer Science<br> Adelphi University<br> Garden City, NY</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-36 size-thumbnail" src="https://i0.wp.com/mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/whitcher-books.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1" alt="The mathematician Ursula Whitcher" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/whitcher-books.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/whitcher-books.jpg?zoom=2&resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/whitcher-books.jpg?zoom=3&resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 450w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /><strong> Ursula Whitcher</strong><br> Feature Column contributor and editor<br> Mathematical Reviews<br> American Mathematical Society<br> Ann Arbor, MI</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p><h1>Contributing to the Feature Column</h1></p> If you are interested in writing a guest Feature Column, send us a pitch! Email a CV, a sample of your expository writing, and a one-paragraph description of your proposed column to the column editor, Ursula Whitcher, uaw at ams dot org. If we're interested, we'll get back to you within two weeks to discuss next steps. If we don't follow up on a specific pitch, you are welcome to pitch us again six months later. We also welcome suggestions for guest columnists from interested readers: if you've seen some delightful mathematical exposition, let us know about it! </div> </div> <div class="screen-reader-text" itemprop="datePublished" itemtype="https://schema.org/Date">2020-08-18</div> </article> </div> </div> <aside id="sidebar-primary" class="sidebar sidebar-primary hgrid-span-4 layout-wide-right " role="complementary" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="https://schema.org/WPSideBar"> <div class=" sidebar-wrap theiaStickySidebar"> <section id="search-2" class="widget widget_search"><div class="searchbody"><form method="get" class="searchform" action="https://mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/" ><label class="screen-reader-text">Search</label><i class="fas fa-search"></i><input type="text" class="searchtext" name="s" placeholder="Type Search Term …" value="" /><input type="submit" class="submit" name="submit" value="Search" /><span class="js-search-placeholder"></span></form></div></section><section id="blog_subscription-2" class="widget widget_blog_subscription jetpack_subscription_widget"><h3 class="widget-title"><span>Subscribe to Feature Column via Email</span></h3> <div class="wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__container"> <form action="#" method="post" accept-charset="utf-8" id="subscribe-blog-blog_subscription-2" data-blog="202620863" data-post_access_level="everybody" > <div id="subscribe-text"><p>Enter your email address to subscribe to Feature Column and receive notifications of new posts by email.</p> </div> <p id="subscribe-email"> <label id="jetpack-subscribe-label" class="screen-reader-text" for="subscribe-field-blog_subscription-2"> Email Address </label> <input type="email" name="email" required="required" value="" id="subscribe-field-blog_subscription-2" placeholder="Email Address" /> </p> <p id="subscribe-submit" > <input type="hidden" name="action" value="subscribe"/> <input type="hidden" name="source" value="https://mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/"/> <input type="hidden" name="sub-type" value="widget"/> <input type="hidden" name="redirect_fragment" value="subscribe-blog-blog_subscription-2"/> <input type="hidden" id="_wpnonce" name="_wpnonce" value="6337b3f234" /><input type="hidden" name="_wp_http_referer" value="/featurecolumn/" /> <button type="submit" class="wp-block-button__link" name="jetpack_subscriptions_widget" > Subscribe </button> </p> </form> </div> </section><section id="block-3" class="widget widget_block"><div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow"><h2 class="wp-block-heading">Recent Posts</h2><ul class="wp-block-latest-posts__list wp-block-latest-posts"><li><a class="wp-block-latest-posts__post-title" href="https://mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/2024/11/01/strung-out-on-automorphic-forms/">Strung Out on Automorphic Forms</a></li> <li><a class="wp-block-latest-posts__post-title" href="https://mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/2024/10/01/people-and-computers-compared/">People and Computers Compared</a></li> <li><a class="wp-block-latest-posts__post-title" href="https://mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/2024/09/01/payoffs-and-strategies/">Payoffs and strategies</a></li> <li><a class="wp-block-latest-posts__post-title" href="https://mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/2024/08/01/welcome-to-the-fold/">Welcome to the Fold</a></li> <li><a class="wp-block-latest-posts__post-title" href="https://mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/2024/07/01/looking-ahead/">Looking ahead</a></li> </ul></div></div></section><section id="categories-2" class="widget widget_categories"><h3 class="widget-title"><span>Categories</span></h3> <ul> <li class="cat-item cat-item-2"><a href="https://mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/category/2020/">2020</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-3"><a href="https://mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/category/2021/">2021</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-4"><a href="https://mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/category/2022/">2022</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-112"><a href="https://mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/category/2023/">2023</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-147"><a href="https://mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/category/2024/">2024</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-5"><a href="https://mathvoices.ams.org/featurecolumn/category/columnists/adam-a-smith/">Adam A. 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