Author Archives: Xander

About Xander

Xander completed his PhD in mathematics at UC Riverside in the Spring of 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. His thesis, titled Fractal Zeta Functions in Metric Measure Spaces, explores some connections between the geometry of certain metric spaces, and the spectra of the Laplace operator on those spaces. He is currently an instructor at Northland Pioneer College, out in the beautiful deserts of northern Arizona.

Winter Solstice 2020

Posted on 21 December 2020 by Xander

Today is the winter solstice. Using my cleverphone, I recorded the sunrise from the window of my home office. The phone messed up the auto-focus just before the sun actually rose, which is a little disappointing, but the focus eventually … Continue reading →

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Vote

Posted on 27 October 2020 by Xander

My ballot finally got to where it is meant to go, and was ruled acceptable. Please do what you need to do in order ensure that you can say the same.

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Comet NEOWISE

Posted on 16 July 2020 by Xander

A friend and I drove out to Joshua Tree National Park last night to look for the comet NEOWISE. I took a few pictures with my phone (it is rather impressive what consumer-grade electronics can do these days…), which I’ve … Continue reading →

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Can we pull over?

Posted on 13 July 2020 by Xander

Another short anecdote about my father. This one centers on his preternatural ability to hold onto large swathes of geography. My father knew the name of every mountain peak visible from every house he ever lived in, could glance at … Continue reading →

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Fig Leibnizes

Posted on 7 July 2020 by Xander

Yesterday, my daughter and I made fig Leibnizes, which consist of a layer of fig paste between two layers of cakey-cookie substance (they’re like fig Newtons, only Newton was kind of a jerk, and there are no trademark issues). They … Continue reading →

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The Accidental Lawyer

Posted on 17 June 2020 by Xander

The following is a bit of folklore regarding my father. The basic outlines are correct, though there is likely a little bit of embellishment—this story takes place before my actual memory begins. Of course, the real truth is in a … Continue reading →

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Thesis Stuff

Posted on 12 June 2020 by Xander

I officially submitted my Ph.D. thesis yesterday afternoon. It is a tremendous weight off of my shoulders to have that done. I’m going to take a few days off, and then I need to get cracking on a couple of … Continue reading →

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Letter to Chancellor Wilcox

Posted on 5 June 2020 by Xander

The world is in a state of flux right now, and the Academy is facing a major crisis. In light of this crisis, many students are demanding that grades be eliminated, that finals be cancelled, and that the Academy otherwise … Continue reading →

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Dr. Henderson

Posted on 31 May 2020 by Xander

Last Friday, I successfully defended my Ph.D. thesis. For all intents and purposes, I am now the fourth Dr. Henderson in my line. I follow in the footsteps of my great-grandfather Dr. Norman Batty Henderson D.Div., my grandfather Dr. Norman … Continue reading →

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My Mathematical Genealogy

Posted on 2 February 2020 by Xander

While at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in January, I attended a talk by Erica Winterer titled Attention Is the Beginning of Devotion: Noticing and Acculturative Routines in a Large Freshman Calculus Course. In this talk, Ms Winterer presented a number … Continue reading →

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