Thomas Lin

Thomas Lin

@7homaslin.com

Super nerd here to spread the joy of learning. 📖 Publisher @quantabooks.org‬ at @simonsfoundation.org 📚 Author list: Terence Tao, David Tong, Kevin Hartnett ⚛️ Founding EIC @quantamagazine.org 💼 Prev @nytimes.com, CASW, CUNY J-School 🚴🏼🎾♟️

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Galleys for Terence Tao’s SIX MATH ESSENTIALS have arrived at our @quantabooks.org offices. We’re excited to share them with reviewers! The official publication date is Oct 27 and you can preorder the book here: www.quantabooks.org/books/six-ma...

Thomas Lin reposted

@quantabooks.org

Terence Tao’s SIX MATH ESSENTIALS publishes in two weeks. The UK edition—SIX MATHS ESSENTIALS—is out today! Order your copy: www.quantabooks.org/books/six-ma...

quantabooks.orgSix Math Essentials - Quanta BooksThe “Mozart of mathematics” invites readers on a brief tour of six core ideas—numbers, algebra, geometry, probability, analysis, and dynamics—that capture the beauty and power of mathematical thinking...

“Since the 1970s, Idaho’s criminal and civil laws have allowed parents who belong to Followers of Christ and the state’s other faith-healing sects to pray rather than seek medical care as their children die.”

ProPublica@propublica.org

Newborn baby Malachi, whose parents belong to a faith-healing sect that doesn’t believe in medical care, died of preventable and treatable conditions. Thirteen months later, their next newborn, Liam, died from the same things.

propublica.orgThese Children’s Deaths Were Preventable. Their Parents Prayed Instead of Seeking Medical Care.For decades, Idaho laws have allowed parents who belong to the Followers of Christ and other faith-healing sects to pray rather than seek medical care. Since 2015, at least 15 children have died of tr...

Ed Yong’s new book sounds amazing. Just yesterday I asked my fifth grader to read the first chapter of I CONTAIN MULTITUDES. He wrote this chapter summary: The book “I Contain Multitudes” by Ed Yong explains how every living thing evolved from microbes and how they are always close to us. (1/x)

Ed Yong is offline@edyong209.bsky.social

Briefly popping my head back in to unveil the cover of my upcoming book, LIFE BEYOND MEASURE: Nature's Hidden Wonders at Every Scale. It’ll be out on April 6 in the U.S. and April 29 in the U.K. and you can pre-order it right now! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/757705... 1/

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Rarely any microbes cause actual infection. Some kinds of microbes are essential for your health or other animals such as antelopes, which depend on their stomach microbes to break down tough fiber to digest their plants. I believe this book is about how without microbes…

…it would be very hard to survive, if we would even exist, but still many people think of microbes as a gross single cell organism that inhabits bigger animals’ bodies. I think that Ed Yong wants people to understand how fascinating the microbe community is.

Ed Yong’s new book sounds amazing. Just yesterday I asked my fifth grader to read the first chapter of I CONTAIN MULTITUDES. He wrote this chapter summary: The book “I Contain Multitudes” by Ed Yong explains how every living thing evolved from microbes and how they are always close to us. (1/x)

Ed Yong is offline@edyong209.bsky.social

Briefly popping my head back in to unveil the cover of my upcoming book, LIFE BEYOND MEASURE: Nature's Hidden Wonders at Every Scale. It’ll be out on April 6 in the U.S. and April 29 in the U.K. and you can pre-order it right now! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/757705... 1/

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For example, an anteater was born with a longer snout than others and could reach deep into holes to get ants. Then that anteater’s child would have even longer snouts, but its brother and sister still had short ones. Then, all the short snouted anteaters would die off, and then all the anteaters…

…would have longer snouts to make it easier for them to dig up their food. I also learned how microbes are on every single thing. This is because there are different types of microbes. Some live in your mouth, some live in your gut, and others might live in your ears or nose.

Ed Yong’s new book sounds amazing. Just yesterday I asked my fifth grader to read the first chapter of I CONTAIN MULTITUDES. He wrote this chapter summary: The book “I Contain Multitudes” by Ed Yong explains how every living thing evolved from microbes and how they are always close to us. (1/x)

Ed Yong is offline@edyong209.bsky.social

Briefly popping my head back in to unveil the cover of my upcoming book, LIFE BEYOND MEASURE: Nature's Hidden Wonders at Every Scale. It’ll be out on April 6 in the U.S. and April 29 in the U.K. and you can pre-order it right now! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/757705... 1/

It shows us how evolution works and why everything is like an island that hosts many crowds of microbes, even though we can’t see them. The way the first chapter explained evolution is quite simple. One animal would start out a little different than their parents or sibling.

Learn more about Terence Tao's upcoming events for SIX MATH ESSENTIALS (publishing Nov. 10) in NYC (Pioneer Works), Boston (Harvard Science Center), and Kansas City (The Linda Hall). Read our latest newsletter below and preorder Terry's book here: www.quantabooks.org/books/six-ma...

quantabooks.orgSix Math Essentials - Quanta BooksThe “Mozart of mathematics” invites readers on a brief tour of six core ideas—numbers, algebra, geometry, probability, analysis, and dynamics—that capture the beauty and power of mathematical thinking...

Quanta Books@quantabooks.org

Terence Tao’s (@teorth.bsky.social) SIX MATH ESSENTIALS publishes on Nov 10, and Terry will be doing book events in NYC, Boston, and Kansas City—read our latest Philomath newsletter to register, and learn more.

Thomas Lin reposted

Steven Strogatz

@stevenstrogatz.com

Hey, it looks like our The Joy of Why podcast has a serious chance of winning a Signal Award (in the science and education category). if you are a fan of our show, please vote for it – and tell all your friends to do the same! Let's win this thing! 🙏🕺 vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting...

vote.signalaward.comThe Signal Listener's Choice Award needs YOUI just voted for this finalist to win a Signal Listener's Choice Award. You should too.

Amazon book reviewers are not always known for their concision, but this reader captured @kevinhartnett.bsky.social’s THE PROOF IN THE CODE (@quantabooks.org / @fsgbooks.bsky.social) in two sentences:

Multiple order options and formats available here (and check out our next two books, by Terence Tao and David Tong): www.quantabooks.org/books/the-pr...

quantabooks.orgThe Proof in the Code - Quanta BooksThe inside story of Lean, a computer program that answers the age-old question: How do you know if something is true?

Thomas Lin reposted

@wcratcliff.bsky.social

Out today in @nature.com: our review on how single cells evolve into multicellular organisms. With Ozan Bozdag, @kaitong25.bsky.social, Peter Yunker, and @matthewherron.bsky.social. rdcu.be/9ZuiKow9twKa For an overview, check out the video below.

Great explainer, indeed! Also says something about where we are today that “with no assistance from AI” needs to be said.

Sean Carroll@seanmcarroll.bsky.social

Neutrino astrophysicist John Beacom has a lovely explainer of the Francis Halzen/IceCube Nobel Prize. medium.com/@beacom.7/ho...

medium.comHow Neutrinos, Which Barely Exist, Just Ran Off with a Nobel Prize — Again!John Beacom (Ohio State University), with no assistance from AI

Unsurprisingly, one of the smartest and most thoughtful essays synthesizing what’s happening in math right now comes from @quantamagazine.org’s math editor @jordanacep.bsky.social. Worth reading every word: www.quantamagazine.org/is-ai-the-en...

quantamagazine.orgIs AI the End of Math As We Know It? | Quanta MagazineMathematicians are facing the sudden shift with grief, anger, and a desperate search for fresh ideas: “If we don’t adapt, there’s just no more math in 50 years.”

Just one of many gems: “In mathematics, it’s not a cliché that the journey matters more than the destination. Problems are posed not so much because their answers will be practical and important, but because they represent interesting journeys…. AI models skip to the end.”

Thomas Lin reposted

@propublica.org

For years, Project 2025 architect Russell Vought has set out to erode our system of checks and balances of power and to concentrate power in the hands of one person: President Trump. Now he’s quietly making it all happen. 🔊 Listen to this episode: propub.li/3TzIyaA

Read today’s @wsj.com book review of THE PROOF IN THE CODE, the definitive story of Lean published this summer by @quantabooks.org + @fsgbooks.bsky.social just as things were heating up in computer-aided mathematics. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

wsj.com‘The Proof in the Code’ Review: Lean, Mean Computing MachineThe program called Lean was built to detect bugs in Microsoft’s products. It ended up revolutionizing mathematics.

Thomas Lin reposted

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD

@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social

A fifth measles death in Pennsylvania. Entirely preventable.

theguardian.comPennsylvania reports fifth measles-related death of the year amid outbreakMeasles outbreak in the state has now reached 39 counties, with 943 confirmed cases and 176 hospitalizations

Thomas Lin reposted

@propublica.org

NEW: California is teeming with black-market dairies, propped up by consumer demand fueled by misinformation. With evidence against one raw goat milk farm, regulators could have sought punitive action. But that’s not what happened.

propublica.orgA Girl Nearly Died After Drinking Raw Milk. The State Did Little to Punish the Unlicensed Farmer Who Sold It.California is teeming with black-market dairies, propped up by consumer demand fueled by misinformation. With evidence against one raw goat milk farm, regulators could have sought punitive action. But...

Top story on cover of Sunday @nytimes: “Interviews with more than 30 current and former employees reveal the agency is now tightly controlled by Mr. Kennedy and his associates, and its scientists are finding it increasingly difficult to do their jobs effectively.”

“The changes have hindered the C.D.C.’s ability to respond to outbreaks as measles spreads at home and Ebola abroad, and to issue timely guidance on vaccinations as cooling temperatures kick off the respiratory season, according to current and former employees.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/h...

nytimes.com‘Zombified’ C.D.C., Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific MissionThe agency has lost its independence and nearly a third of its staff, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and associates have tightened control.

Thomas Lin reposted

@propublica.org

Hey, ProPublica reporter Jake Pearson here. I’m taking over the account to tell you about my new story. For months, I posed as a problem gambler on DraftKings to test the company's "responsible gaming" safeguards. Spoiler alert: They made me a VIP — and I lost $10K. Here's how it all went down. 🧵

Just as I am delighted to read article-length explainer threads by Phil Ball.

Philip Ball@philipcball.bsky.social

I am rather delighted by this paper. So here’s a thread to tell you why, and why it matters. /1 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.orgNoncoding transcription controls the developmental dynamics of long-range gene regulationThe genomic regions regulating gene expression are often themselves transcribed into a variety of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). However, the regulatory roles of this noncoding transcription remain largely unknown. By using live imaging, we reveal that the ...

For anyone wondering what Navier-Stokes is all about and what the recent proof did and didn’t do, watch @QuantaMagazine’s excellent new explainer video: youtu.be/PsWR1rQEWYo

youtu.beWhy Navier-Stokes Pushes Math and Physics to the EdgeYouTube video by Quanta Magazine

Kennedy Assures Vaccine Skeptics That They Have a ‘Friend at the White House’ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/h...

nytimes.comRFK Jr. Assures Vaccine Skeptics They Have a ‘Friend at the White House’The health secretary spoke at a conference featuring misinformation about vaccines, including a claim that the success of the polio vaccines was a “fraud.”

Thomas Lin reposted

@quantabooks.org

Amid OpenAI’s news that they’d solved the Navier-Stokes problem—verified w/ Lean—many mathematicians, including Quanta Books author Terence Tao (@teorth.bsky.social), worry that the rapid pace of AI proofs could short-circuit the main purpose of math: “to increase your understanding of a subject.”

@quantabooks.org just published a new blog post to help make sense of the rapid pace of AI-generated and -assisted mathematics. www.quantabooks.org/is-ai-solvin...

quantabooks.orgIs AI Solving Math Too Fast?In a world where AI can rapidly solve longstanding problems like Navier-Stokes, some mathematicians are calling for a more deliberative process to help preserve the field’s core values.

Huge congrats to Dr. Emily Levesque, the author of @quantabooks.org’s forthcoming title STARLIGHT IS FALLING!

American Astronomical Society (AAS)@aas.org

The American Astronomical Society today announced that Dr. Emily Levesque (University of Washington) has been confirmed as the next Editor in Chief of the AAS journals. 🔭https://aas.org/press/emily-levesque-named-editor-chief-aas-journals @publishing.aas.org

In a letter warning of a “severe misalignment of AI in mathematics,” 25 Fields Medalists write: “the push by AI companies to solve mathematical problems as a benchmark is detrimental to the science of mathematics, and to the mathematical community.” Read the letter: mathandai.org

Signed by:

Computer scientist Lance Fortnow connects the dots from the Navier-Stokes announcement to Lean (and @kevinhartnett.bsky.social’s new book THE PROOF IN THE CODE from @quantabooks.org ).

Lance Fortnow@lance.fortnow.com

Both OpenAI and Alpöge-Buckmaster heavily leaned on Lean in their Navier-Stokes announcements. Is this a new requirement for publishing?

blog.computationalcomplexity.orgNavier-Stokes and LeanI was working on this week's post on Lean after reading Kevin Hartnett's book The Proof in the Code: How a Truth Machine Is Transforming Ma...

I enjoyed chatting with Susan D'Agostino for @insidehighered.com at the International Congress of Mathematicians in July and hope readers are interested in learning more about the philosophy behind @quantamagazine.org and @quantabooks.org. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

insidehighered.comQuanta’s Thomas Lin Trusts Public Can Handle Complex IdeasThe founding editor built a math and science magazine that high schoolers and Nobel laureates alike read. Now, he’s turned to books.

AnthropicAI just announced a formalization of Fermat’s Last Theorem using 13 million lines of Lean code. First on their recommended reading list is @kevinhartnett.bsky.social’s new book THE PROOF IN THE CODE: www.quantabooks.org/books/the-pr... Source: www.anthropic.com/research/for...

@teorth.bsky.social wrote a clear, nontechnical explanation of the Kakeya Conjecture (for which Hong Wang won the Fields Medal in July), why it matters, how it was solved, and future directions, and posted it on the arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2608.22209

arxiv.orgRotating needles in space: the road to the Kakeya conjecture, and why it mattersA non-technical exposition of the Kakeya conjecture, why it matters, and the road to the solution of this conjecture in three dimensions by Hong Wang and Joshua Zahl.

Terry also recently introduced for a broad general audience the core concepts in his forthcoming book SIX MATH ESSENTIALS in this new @bigthink.com video, which already has over 1.2 million views: youtu.be/OOMx2BHHWtE?...

youtu.beOne of the world's greatest mathematicians explains 6 essential concepts of math | Terence TaoYouTube video by Big Think

@teorth.bsky.social wrote a clear, nontechnical explanation of the Kakeya Conjecture (for which Hong Wang won the Fields Medal in July), why it matters, how it was solved, and future directions, and posted it on the arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2608.22209

arxiv.orgRotating needles in space: the road to the Kakeya conjecture, and why it mattersA non-technical exposition of the Kakeya conjecture, why it matters, and the road to the solution of this conjecture in three dimensions by Hong Wang and Joshua Zahl.

On why it matters: “many problems in harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, and number theory, which all have the general flavor of trying to control the amount of ‘constructive interference’ that can be present in some superposition of oscillating waves in ‘space’.”

Thomas Lin reposted

@wcratcliff.bsky.social

Four billion years ago, Earth was a sterile rock. Today it is teeming with life, from simple microbes to extraordinarily complex societies that span the globe. How does that happen? I'm writing a book about the answer: Life Unbounded, from Quanta Books. www.quantabooks.org/books/life-u...

quantabooks.orgLife UnboundedIn LIFE UNBOUNDED, pioneering evolutionary biologist William C. Ratcliff reveals that every great leap in life’s complexity, from the first cells to human culture, was driven by the same underlying pr...

Quanta Books@quantabooks.org

🚨New book announcement! 🚨Evolutionary biologist William C. Ratcliff’s (@wcratcliff.bsky.social) LIFE UNBOUNDED (forthcoming 2029) delivers a sweeping narrative of the emergence of complex life, and how a sterile planet transformed into the rich mosaic of beings on Earth today.

Very excited to be joining forces with the evolutionary biologist @wcratcliff.bsky.social for his first popular science book! You’ll want to bookmark this one.

Quanta Books@quantabooks.org

🚨New book announcement! 🚨Evolutionary biologist William C. Ratcliff’s (@wcratcliff.bsky.social) LIFE UNBOUNDED (forthcoming 2029) delivers a sweeping narrative of the emergence of complex life, and how a sterile planet transformed into the rich mosaic of beings on Earth today.

Thomas Lin reposted

@itsjoels.bsky.social

This is the letter kids got at the end of Dolly’s Imagination Library. I defy you to read this and not cry.

Thomas Lin reposted

@quantabooks.org

In July, Quanta Books attended the 2026 ICM in Philly, where we met readers, sold books, and hosted 3 events: a signing with @teorth.bsky.social or his forthcoming book and a talk with @kevinhartnett.bsky.social and publisher @7homaslin.com on Kevin’s book THE PROOF IN THE CODE (& another signing).

Thanks to everyone who came by the @quantabooks.org booth at the ICM last month! My heart was full seeing the love for @quantamagazine.org and the excitement around @kevinhartnett.bsky.social’s THE PROOF IN THE CODE and @teorth.bsky.social’s SIX MATH ESSENTIALS. www.quantabooks.org/quanta-books...

quantabooks.orgQuanta Books at Math’s Main Event

As seen at @powells.bsky.social in Portland, OR, today, @kevinhartnett.bsky.social’s mathematical thriller about the birth and rise of the verification language Lean, THE PROOF IN THE CODE.

The “hydrogenobody” is "an organelle, new to science, that is essential to the biochemical process of rebuilding atoms into compounds that are heating the planet." Scientists are trying to target hydrogenobody-rich protozoans in cow guts to "curb the burp." www.quantamagazine.org/a-new-way-th...

quantamagazine.orgA New Way That a Cow’s Inner World Shapes Earth’s Atmosphere | Quanta MagazineAn organelle discovered inside a microbe inside a cow’s gut helps explain how livestock burps contribute to warming our planet.

A stunning cover for a stunningly brilliant book about quantum field theory by the one and only David Tong.

Quanta Books@quantabooks.org

Cover reveal for David Tong's EVERYTHING IS FIELDS, publishing March 16, 2027! From one of today’s leading theoretical physicists comes a witty, exuberant tour of quantum fields, the fluid-like substances that make up our entire universe.

Why is @nattyover.bsky.social (and about 10% of the human population, including one of my sons) left-handed? Why indeed. Fun fact I learned: "Ultrasound studies indicate that a fetus’s dominant hand is decided before its brain even connects to its limbs." www.quantamagazine.org/why-am-i-lef...

quantamagazine.orgWhy Am I Left-Handed? | Quanta MagazineAn invisible difference in 10% of humans poses deep mysteries in several fields at once.

This glass frog has to be one of the coolest creatures I saw in Costa Rica last month. Its translucent skin is an amazing adaptation to camouflage it from predators. When you shine a light from below, you can see its internal organs!

"Our real duty as teachers has always been challenging students to think. The task now is finding ways to engage them in the painful, essential work of critical thinking in a world where machines are willing to do it for them." www.science.org/content/arti...

science.orgInstead of banning AI, I made a classroom contract with my students“I used AI daily—how could I expect my students to avoid it entirely?” this computer scientist writes

In biology news, one big step closer to making synthetic life: www.quantamagazine.org/for-the-firs...

quantamagazine.orgFor the First Time, a Cell Built From Scratch Grows and Divides | Quanta MagazineScientists built a synthetic cell that combines more lifelike properties than ever before — proof of concept that it’s possible to bring nonliving materials to life, or something close to it, in the l...