BetterExplained, as regular Grey Matters readers will know, not only teaches math, but teaches it in such a way that you get that "A-ha!" experience while learning about it. Such math resources are both valuable and rare.

Another such great resource debuted just recently in the New York Times. They've added a new columnist, Steven Strogatz (pictured at the intro to this article), to discuss mathematical matters.

His first column is titled From Fish To Infinity, starts at the perfect place: the beginning. The attitude in this piece is that if we're going to deal with math, let's start by understanding what numbers are and why we use them.

While this could be a very technical discussion, Mr. Strogatz illustrates it so simply, that the main point is illustrated with a skit from Sesame Street. I often talk about difficult mathematical concepts, so it's quite nice to have someone explain things simply, clearly, and from a shared starting point.

If you're curious about what kind of discussions you can expect from his column in the future, he already has already several online videos available. I especially enjoyed his TED Talk on how things in nature tend to sync up:



Whether you enjoy mathematics, or just want to learn about them clearly and understandably, my top 3 recommendations for doing so are now these (in alphabetical order): Beauty and Mathematics DVDs, BetterExplained blog, and Steven Strogatz' NYTimes column.