Writings
Jack's writings
The Theory of Zero and Other Things
How to learn basic math through real world examples and maybe better understand the perils our planet Earth faces
The book explores how numbers and patterns shape the world, beginning with zero and one and their strange relationship to infinity. It examines how the Gaussian, or bell curve, appears across nature, society, and behavior, touching on subjects such as climate, wealth, and baseball statistics. Later chapters turn toward topics like extraterrestrial life, political and physical polarization, and the structure of ice. The writing moves between observation and speculation, using mathematics as a way to describe rather than define. Each chapter can stand on its own, connected by recurring ideas about balance, symmetry, and the logic hidden within everyday life.
The COVID-19 Chronicles
Written during the COVID-19 pandemic, this series of essays follows the progression of COVID-19 from its first global wave through the years that followed. Each entry was composed in real time, using publicly available data and mathematical models to track the evolution of deaths, infection rates, and policy responses across countries. Early chapters focus on quantitative analysis (i.e. what the numbers actually showed versus what headlines claimed) while later essays, collected as "Rumblings," shift toward reflection on how institutions, science, and human behavior adapted under strain.