Homepage | Mike Pierce

I’m an instructor of math and statistics at Colorado Mesa University. During this Fall 2023 term I’m teaching College Algebra, Engineering Calc I, and Engineering Calc II. I’m also leading a Problem Solving Seminar for the Putnam Exam Mondays at 3pm.

You can find me in my office, Wubben 134J, Monday–Thursday 8¾–9am or Noon–1pm, or you can email me at .

Digital Garden

Problem Solving (Putnam) Seminar

The William Lowell Putnam Mathematics Competition is an annual contest for US and Canadian undergraduate mathematicians. In this seminar we’ll be solving math problems in preparation for this competition.

Programming the Quadratic Formula into a TI-83/84+ Calculator

Once you know the quadratic formula, you can save time by programming it into your calculator once-and-for-all.

My Desmos Showcase

This is a collection of some of the novel demonstrations I’ve created in the Desmos Graphing Calculator for college algebra, calculus, etc. Please feel free to use these or build on them. Let me know if you expand anything here into something strictly cooler.

The GNU Basic Calculator (bc): a Quick-Start Guide for Mathematicians

A guide to learn the easiest, most elegant way to leverage the power of a computer to perform arbitrary-precision computations.

Western Slope Stoa

Let’s meet up and talk Stoic philosophy. See the page or the Nextdoor group for meeting details and what we’re currently reading. This is member community of The Stoic Fellowship.

Math Writing & Typography for MS Word

A writing sample and guide to typesetting in Microsoft’s WYSIWYG software.

Grothendieck’s Musings on Kimchi

An English translation of Alexander Grothendieck’s essay on kimchi. I have little to do with the words—I’ve simply typeset and organized/crowdsourced the translation via GitHub.

$Thumbnail: an old-style typewriter$

Learning LaTeX

If you plan on publishing mathematical writing you should learn the basics of LaTeX syntax and how to typeset technical documents. This is a very brief guide listing the most helpful resources for this.

Conference Template Website

Simple HTML/CSS website template for an academic/tech conference.

My Favorite Puzzle Questions

My collection of questions, typically classified as recreational mathematics or logic puzzles, that manage to engage students in a way the usual math curriculum does not.

Designing Accessible Documents

A brief guide to designing typographically accessible documents.