From my desk

Margin Notes

A loose archive of scattered curiosities

Blog

Recent Notes

The moment I put an idea into writing, even the places I feel most certain about start to tremble.

The number 1 holding a single seal before a cosmic council of prime numbers

History of Mathematics · September 12, 2026 · 8 min

The Unfortunate Identity Crisis of 1

Once not even considered a number, 1 was treated as prime by some mathematicians for centuries. Then new number systems emerged and the rules of the primes’ club were rewritten. This is the story of 1’s centuries-long identity crisis.

An ancient mathematician drawing parallel lines on a geometric surface that curves into spherical and saddle-like forms

History of Mathematics · August 9, 2026 · 12 min

A 2,000-Year-Long ‘This Never Sat Right with Me’ Story

Mathematicians can be troubled even by things whose truth they never question. Euclid’s fifth postulate is one of the finest examples.

A man operating a futuristic artificial intelligence system

Artificial Intelligence | Business · August 1, 2026 · 6 min

If We Add One More Agent, Everything Will Be Fine

On the problems AI solves, the problems it creates, and the agents no one quite knows why they needed.