Kevin Iga Male Agoura Hills, CA United States: Share Twitter

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Italian earthquake scientists charged with manslaughter
5 Replies

Tags: manslaughter, l'Aquila, italy, legal, earthquake

Started this discussion. Last reply by Luke Abbott Dec 16, 2012.

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Luke Abbott replied to Kevin Iga's discussion Italian earthquake scientists charged with manslaughter

"Itaian \(-.-\)"

Dec 16, 2012

Kevin Iga replied to thad's discussion Introduce yourself, and let us know what you need (or can offer) in the group Nerdfighter Tutoring and Mentoring

"I have similar interests. It led me to double major in math and physics in college, and now I'm a math professor working on supersymmetry. Let's talk physics. I'm kiga (at) pepperdine.edu (replace the at with the @…"

Dec 4, 2012

Kevin Iga replied to Jordyn Preusker's discussion Pi vs Tau

"One issue that is not often mentioned: if you go in higher number of dimensions, pi is better than tau. The volume of a sphere in n dimensions is ( pi^(n/2) / (n/2)! ) r^n where we use the Gamma function to define the factorial of non-integers. ( so…"

Nov 7, 2012

Kevin Iga replied to thad's discussion Introduce yourself, and let us know what you need (or can offer) in the group Nerdfighter Tutoring and Mentoring

"Normally we think of space as having 3 dimensions: we can move forward and back, or side to side, or up and down. Or if you prefer to think of it this way, if you want to describe a location in a city, and if the city has streets along a grid,…"

Oct 31, 2012

Vertigo_One [Ops Mod] replied to Kevin Iga's discussion Italian earthquake scientists charged with manslaughter

"That's not fair. In order to prove that they're guilty of manslaughter, it's not just a question of whether they are wrong, it's a question of whether they were neglegant. IE whether or not they had the necessary knowledge to be…"

Oct 23, 2012

Latch33570 replied to Kevin Iga's discussion Italian earthquake scientists charged with manslaughter

"Teach them to get it right next time. Now we need to do that with weathermen."

Oct 23, 2012

Kevin Iga replied to Eric aka moosemuffin's discussion New to nerdfighters.com? Introduce yourself here!

"Ann, Hwangyung hamnida! (sorry I don't know much more Korean than that). I'm actually Japanese-American, myself. I visited Japan once and realized that I am much more American than I am Japanese, though in some ways…"

Oct 23, 2012

Kevin Iga replied to Eric aka moosemuffin's discussion New to nerdfighters.com? Introduce yourself here!

"Yes, I've managed to take respites from watching the videos. I'm back to work, too. Thanks!"

Oct 23, 2012

Rem replied to Kevin Iga's discussion Italian earthquake scientists charged with manslaughter

"Heaven's above...I didn't warn people about that earthquake either! I need to go into hiding...if the police find out about my involvement, I'll be labeled an international terrorist! I'm not going to a terrorist detention camp…"

Oct 23, 2012

Eystein, replied to Kevin Iga's discussion Italian earthquake scientists charged with manslaughter

"I think it is completely insane, and Italy ought to be embarrassed They've certainly ruled away their right to call Americans stupid in the event that Romney wins the election. Although the experts should probably have been less…"

Oct 22, 2012

Kevin Iga posted a discussion

Italian earthquake scientists charged with manslaughter

In 2009, seismologists were watching a series of tremors in L'Aquila, Italy. One local man, without any scientific background in seismology, started going around telling everyone that a big earthquake was on its way. This turned into a frenzy until the seismologists tried to calm everyone down, pointing out that this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. They pointed out that there was no evidence pointing to a big earthquake coming.Well, a big 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit within the…See More

Oct 22, 2012

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Kevin Iga replied to thad's discussion Introduce yourself, and let us know what you need (or can offer) in the group Nerdfighter Tutoring and Mentoring

"I can address this. In particle physics, the goal is to come up with a theory that includes the fundamental objects of the physical universe and explains how they interact. Currently, there is a theory known as the Standard Model that posits the…"

Oct 22, 2012

Kevin Iga joined thad's group

Nerdfighter Tutoring and Mentoring

If you can offer help to a fellow nerdfighter in a particular subject, let them know here. Similarly, if you need help with something, members of this group who offer their services are available either here or in the chat room so you can discuss.See More

Oct 22, 2012

227 Comments

Kevin Iga replied to Eric aka moosemuffin's discussion New to nerdfighters.com? Introduce yourself here!

"Thanks! I am perusing the threads. Lots of fun discussions going on. DFTBA to you too!"

Oct 22, 2012

JV (Ataximander) left a comment for Kevin Iga

"Welcome to the Ning, Kevin! :D DFTBA!"

Oct 22, 2012

Kevin Iga replied to Ashley Richardson's discussion Religious inheritance

"I actually did learn a bit about several religions before I became a Christian. I found that helpful because I was clearer on my reasons, which is important to me. But there are some problems with this prescription in general. 1. If you…"

Oct 22, 2012

Profile Information

What Kind of Nerdfighter Are You?: math nerd

About Me:: I'm a math professor at Pepperdine University.
In 1990 or so, as a college undergraduate, I got a letter printed in the Boston Globe taking offense that a crossword clue "jerk" led to the answer "nerd". I think this is a better qualification for my nerdiness than the fact that I am now a professional mathematician.
I was born and raised in Hawaii. I don't know how to surf because I suspect that probably takes coordination and balance.
I have mostly lived in the US, though I spent a few months teaching in Hong Kong, and I am currently teaching in Lausanne, Switzerland. After that I go back to Los Angeles, where I usually live (specifically, Agoura Hills).

Favorite Books, Movies, Music, and more: The books in my childhood/teen years that had the biggest influence on who I am:
Madeleine L'engle, A Wrinkle in Time and the sequels
The BIble (especially Ecclesiastes and the Sermon on the Mount and the Romans verse about coals on your enemy's head)
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Richard Feynmann, Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynmann
Lots of Isaac Asimov stuff, especially the non-fiction, but Foundation series too
I was REALLY into Tolkien, Narnia, Wizard of Oz series, etc., but it's harder for me to pinpoint viewpoints I have now that are due to them.
Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and sequels
Douglas Hofstadter, Gödel, Escher, Bach
Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

In my adulthood, here are some books that have influenced me, though not as much as the previous list:
Borges, Ficciones (esp. Library of Babel)
Zelazny, Doorways in the Sand
Kawabata, Snow Country
Dostoyevsky, Brothers Karamazov
McLaren, A New Kind of Christianity
Camp, Mere Discipleship
Ware, The Orthodox Church
Moffett, A History of Christianity in Asia Vol. 1
Banerjee and Duflo, Poor Economics
Krugman, lots of his for-the-popular-press econ books

I am not, of course, including the books that taught me all the math and physics I know even though those are the ones that helped me land my current job. But if you are interested I have recommendations. Message me with info on what you already know and what math and/or physics you want to know, I may be able to recommend something. Unless you are also a math prof in which case I can just recommend physics books for mathematicians.

I also keep a shelf of crackpot books. They have ideas ranging from the Bermuda Triangle to magnetism being the fundamental theory of physics to conspiracy theories. My favorite is a book that proves that heaven is the planet Saturn. My reasons for keeping this shelf: 1. They might be right--you never know. It helps to keep an open mind. 2. Seeing how their reasoning works teaches me about how people come to believe things, and I find this useful in understanding how I came to believe the things I believe.