What it is:
This is a repository of information about grandiose claims made in the name of mathematics, as well as the best information I can find about what is, and isn't, real.
Why do it:
Why write a site about mathematical myths, flim-flam and half truths? Why play the curmudgeon to topics lovingly used by so many in the selling of mathematics? The easy answer is because I love mathematics, and I love teaching it, and I think the truth is at least as interesting as a lot of the mumbo-jumbo I've run into. I'm also appalled by the number of resources on the web making grandiose claims about such things as the Golden Ratio and the dearth of reasonable references to what is real. This site is an attempt to tip the balance a little bit, realign the scales. It is also an attempt to help people discern fact from fiction, and so in classic myth busting tradition some of the entries on this site will be confirmations, not just denunciations.
Standards of Evidence:
This site adheres to the dictum that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. I also firmly believe that if I make a claim I need to be able to back that claim up. To serve these ends I will include with each myth discussed the best information at my disposal about where that myth comes from, what is known, and will provide references that go into more depth. I make few, if any, claims to originality, acting more as an encyclopedist.
How you can help:
I encourage anyone who has more information, a correction or a better reference than those listed here to contact me and let me know so that I can make the appropriate corrections and additions. I'm not infallible, but I will try to make this site as effective and correct a resource as possible. Naturally, the contents of a site such as this occasionally require judgement calls, and they will always be my own.