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Mike Huben - Huben's Wiki

Mike Huben

From Huben's Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
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I thought a wiki would be the simplest way to organize much of my online activity: eventually, wikis will supplant my other sites.  This page is organized roughly by my interests, with the things that might be relevant to my students first.
 
I thought a wiki would be the simplest way to organize much of my online activity: eventually, wikis will supplant my other sites.  This page is organized roughly by my interests, with the things that might be relevant to my students first.
 +
 +
== Get to know me and my thinking ==
 +
[[File:MikeInGreenhouse.jpg|thumb|In the greenhouse at IKIAM University]]
 +
A brief sampler from below and elsewhere:
 +
* [http://huben.us/public/MRH_CV2016.pdf My academic CV].
 +
* [https://www.replyall.me/peltacast/scourge-of-the-libertarians-interview-with-mike-huben/ Scourge of the Libertarians: Interview with Mike Huben].  My views on libertarianism.
 +
* What I think about [[Trump|Donald Trump]].
 +
* Here's my [http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/02/23/why-i-am-an-atheist-mike-huben/ Why I Am An Atheist] posting at Pharyngula.
 +
* [http://ecuadormetamorphosis.blogspot.com Metamorphosis], my blog about my rebirth as an Ecuadorean entomologist.
 +
* My daylily website, on this wiki: [[Diploids Resurgent]].
 +
* [http://critiques.us/index.php?title=A_Positive_Model_Of_Rights A Positive Model Of Rights]: how I think rights really work.
 +
* [http://critiques.us Critiques Of Libertarianism], my giant list of 2000+  links and writings that rebut libertarian claims.
 +
* [[Linear Programming]]: an innovative method of teaching a badly taught concept.
 +
* An idea for a [[Truth course]].
 +
* [https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20086520/Entomology/Evaniidae.pdf Annotated Key to the Ensign Wasp genera.]  My primary scientific publication.
 +
* [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/sigs.html My favorite signature quotations that I've been using since the 80's.]
 +
* [[Things I love and admire about Ecuador.]]
 +
<br style="clear: both" />
  
 
== Currently ==
 
== Currently ==
 
[[Image:Haemactis sanguinalis, female (Blood-Red Skipper).jpg|thumb|Haemactis sanguinalis, female (Blood-Red Skipper)]]
 
[[Image:Haemactis sanguinalis, female (Blood-Red Skipper).jpg|thumb|Haemactis sanguinalis, female (Blood-Red Skipper)]]
Right now, I'm in transition from teaching in the US to becoming an entomologist in Ecuador.  You can read about it in my new blog [http://ecuadormetamorphosis.blogspot.com Metamorphosis].  I am engaged to [http://www.neotropicos.net/ Dr. Alina Freire Fierro].
+
Right now, I'm in transition from teaching in the US to becoming an entomologist in Ecuador.  You can read about it in my new blog [http://ecuadormetamorphosis.blogspot.com Metamorphosis].  I am engaged to [http://www.neotropicos.net/ Alina Freire Fierro], who is now a research professor at [http://www.utc.edu.ec Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi] in [[Latacunga]], Ecuador.
 +
 
 +
I'm doing some [http://extension.referata.com/wiki/Página_principal evaluations for disease resistance in tomatoes], with 38 varieties growing so far at IKIAM.  I have seed for another 80 varieties, seed for 50 varieties of peppers, and much more seed besides.
 +
 
 +
Alina and I both have sizable libraries.  I love the folding bookshelves that I brought from the US, but we don't have nearly enough.  So we are having [[new custom folding bookshelves]] built by a local carpenter.
 +
<br style="clear: both" />
 +
 
 +
== Gardening, Botany and Agriculture ==
 +
[[Image:Mucuna klitgaardiae.jpg|thumb|Mucuna klitgaardiae with my favorite botanist, Alina.]]
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[[Image:Garden.jpg|thumb|A corner of my US garden in peak season.]]
 +
My mom has a picture of me staring intently at Petunias on Jones Beach at age 2, so I guess I've been a plant guy for 60 years or so.  I grew my first seedlings in first grade, and have not stopped since then.  I worked in the botanical greenhouse of the Bailey Hortorium at Cornell University for a few years, caring for their live botanical collection of several thousand species in the greenhouse and their outdoor garden.  I wanted to be a farmer for a while, until I realized that I had dreadful allergies.  [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/garden.html My home garden near Boston had a bit over 300 varieties of perennials and shrubs], not counting daylilies (see below.)
 +
 
 +
Currently, I am working on a [http://extension.referata.com/wiki/Página_principal Tomato Project] with some students at IKIAM University, in Tena, Ecuador.  The goal is to find the most disease resistant varieties (and perhaps breed with them) to find tomatoes that do not need greenhouse protection from rain-spread diseases.
 +
 
 +
Now I am in Ecuador: here's my list of [[Ecuador Botanical and Gardening Resources]].
 +
<br style="clear: both" />
 +
 
 +
<br style="clear: both" />
 +
 
 +
== Entomology and Evaniidae ==
 +
[[Image:MouseMites.jpg|thumb|Mouse skin mites using Jamin-Lebedeff interference microscopy.]]
 +
One of my true loves has always been [[Entomology]]. I used to specialize in [[Acarology]] (the study of mites), and built a collection of a thousand slide-mounted specimens (and who knows how many more in alcohol that I've never mounted.) I've got a substantial number of colorful mite photographs that I've always wanted to publish, photographed by my friends in the New York Microscopical Society and me. After my last sabbatical collecting insects in Ecuador (1988), I finally settled on my current specialization, the [[Evaniidae]] (a family of wasps that parasitize cockroach egg cases.) I study these at the [http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/ Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology] on an unofficial basis. I'm also a member of the [http://entclub.org/ Cambridge Entomological Club].
 +
 
 +
* [http://huben.us/public/MRH_CV2016.pdf My academic CV].
 +
* [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Huben My Researchgate page.]
 +
 
 +
One of the fun aspects of being a wide-ranging collector is that [[Species|my collections are used for describing species.]]
 +
[[Image:Neochlamisus gibbosus.jpg|thumb|A warty leaf beetle, Neochlamisus gibbosus (Fabricius, 1777).  Looks just like my car did!]]
 +
I have always named my cars: my previous Scion xB is named Neoclamisus because it looks like the beetle.
 +
<br style="clear: both" />
 +
 
 +
== Biography ==
 +
[[Image:OldMikePic.jpg|thumb|Age 18, working in the genetics lab at Cornell.]]
 +
I grew up in Plainview, NY (on Long Island.)  I was thrilled to escape to Cornell University where I studied plant breeding, botany, entomology, and computer science.  I had many part-time jobs there, working in a genetics lab (photo), the botanical greenhouses, the insect collection and the computer labs.  I was a brother in Triangle Fraternity (see: Revenge Of the Nerds.)  I worked 3 years for Control Data in NY City, then Minneapolis, and then took a year-long road trip around the US collecting insects and mites in 1981.  I moved to Boston, worked six more years, then took a 7 month trip to Ecuador to collect more insects and mites in 1987.  I returned to Boston and immediately married, bought a house in Arlington, and worked in software until I changed to teaching high school in 2005.  Right now, I'm in transition from teaching in the US to becoming an entomologist in Ecuador.  You can read about it in my new blog [http://ecuadormetamorphosis.blogspot.com Metamorphosis].
 +
<br style="clear: both" />
 +
 
 +
== Family ==
 +
[[Image:Huben Family.jpg|thumb|Mike, Carol, Robert and Peggy.]]
 +
When I married in '88, my ex-wife Peggy and I both changed our name to Huben (mine used to be Huybensz.) Our daughter Carol was born in '90, and our son Robert was born in '93.  As of 2015:
 +
* Peggy teaches Chemistry in Somerville. 
 +
* Carol is a graduate student at U. Mass. Amherst. 
 +
* Robert is a doctoral candidate in mathematics at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
 +
* I am engaged to [http://www.neotropicos.net/ Alina Freire Fierro].
 +
[[Image:Alina and Mike cropped.jpg|thumb|Alina and Mike.]]
 
<br style="clear: both" />
 
<br style="clear: both" />
  
 
== Teaching ==
 
== Teaching ==
[[Image:PokerHands.jpg|thumb|[http://critiquesoflibertarianism.blogspot.com/2009/01/venn-diagram-of-poker-hands-solution.html My Venn diagram of 5-card poker hands.] ]]Currently (2010 until now), I'm a math + CS teacher at [[Boston Latin School]].  This year I'm teaching[[Teacher|:]]  
+
[[Image:PokerHands.jpg|thumb|[http://critiquesoflibertarianism.blogspot.com/2009/01/venn-diagram-of-poker-hands-solution.html My Euler (not Venn) diagram of 5-card poker hands.] ]]
 +
From 2010 until 2014, I was a math + CS teacher at [[Boston Latin School]].  I've taught[[Teacher|:]]  
 
* [[AP Computer Science]]
 
* [[AP Computer Science]]
 
* [[Precalculus]]
 
* [[Precalculus]]
 
* [[Geometry]]
 
* [[Geometry]]
* [[Algebra2]] (previous years)
+
* [[Algebra2]]
* [[Substitute Lesson Plans]]
+
I was the faculty sponsor for the following student organizations:
I'm the faculty sponsor for the following student organizations:
+
 
* [https://sites.google.com/site/mathblsteam/home/announcements BLS Math Team]
 
* [https://sites.google.com/site/mathblsteam/home/announcements BLS Math Team]
 
** [http://www.mathmeets.com/gbml_2013_2014/page/index.php Greater Boston Mathematics League (GBML).]
 
** [http://www.mathmeets.com/gbml_2013_2014/page/index.php Greater Boston Mathematics League (GBML).]
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[[Why Is Math Hard?]]
 
[[Why Is Math Hard?]]
 +
 +
[[Linear Programming]]: an innovative method of teaching a badly taught concept.
  
 
Here's my [[Resume]].
 
Here's my [[Resume]].
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Some [[Recreational Math Problems]].
 
Some [[Recreational Math Problems]].
<br style="clear: both" />
 
 
== Biography ==
 
[[Image:OldMikePic.jpg|thumb|Age 18, working in the genetics lab at Cornell.]]
 
I grew up in Plainview, NY (on Long Island.)  I was thrilled to escape to Cornell University where I studied plant breeding, botany, entomology, and computer science.  I had many part-time jobs there, working in a genetics lab (photo), the botanical greenhouses, the insect collection and the computer labs.  I was a brother in Triangle Fraternity (see: Revenge Of the Nerds.)  I worked 3 years for Control Data in NY City, then Minneapolis, and then took a year-long road trip around the US collecting insects and mites in 1981.  I moved to Boston, worked six more years, then took a 7 month trip to Ecuador to collect more insects and mites in 1987.  I returned to Boston and immediately married, bought a house in Arlington, and worked in software until I changed to teaching high school in 2005.  Right now, I'm in transition from teaching in the US to becoming an entomologist in Ecuador.  You can read about it in my new blog [http://ecuadormetamorphosis.blogspot.com Metamorphosis].
 
<br style="clear: both" />
 
 
== Family ==
 
[[Image:Huben Family.jpg|thumb|Mike, Carol, Robert and Peggy.]]
 
When I married in '88, my ex-wife Peggy and I both changed our name to Huben (mine used to be Huybensz.) Our daughter Carol was born in '90, and our son Robert was born in '93.  As of 2015:
 
* Peggy teaches Chemistry in Somerville. 
 
* Carol is a graduate student at U. Mass. Amherst. 
 
* Robert is a doctoral candidate in mathematics at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
 
* I am engaged to [http://www.neotropicos.net/ Dr. Alina Freire Fierro].
 
[[Image:Alina and Mike cropped.jpg|thumb|Alina and Mike.]]
 
 
<br style="clear: both" />
 
<br style="clear: both" />
  
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* [[Favorite Comics]]
 
* [[Favorite Comics]]
 
* [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/tastes.html Here is a short list of my favorite books, films, etc.]
 
* [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/tastes.html Here is a short list of my favorite books, films, etc.]
<br style="clear: both" />
+
* A recent copy of my [https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20086520/Bookmarks.html Bookmarks].
 
+
== Gardening ==
+
[[Image:Garden.jpg|thumb|A corner of my garden in peak season.]]
+
I've always had a strong interest in botany and gardening. I used to work for Cornell's Bailey Hortorium, caring for their live botanical collection of several thousand species in the greenhouse and their outdoor garden. [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/garden.html My home garden has a bit over 300 varieties of perennials and shrubs.]
+
 
<br style="clear: both" />
 
<br style="clear: both" />
  
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**  [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/sigs.html Signature quotes from my collection] related to libertarianism.
 
**  [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/sigs.html Signature quotes from my collection] related to libertarianism.
  
* [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/skept/index.html Mike's Skepticism]<br>I was briefly a contributing editor writing a monthly column for [http://www.suite101.com/ Suite101]. That ended when I did not meet deadlines. The originals were at: [http://www.suite101.com/topics/page.cfm/645 Skepticism].
+
*[https://press.princeton.edu/titles/13343.html Economics in Two Lessons: Why Markets Work So Well, and Why They Can Fail So Badly] by John Quiggin.  An extraordinary rebuttal to the bad economics of libertarians and neoliberals. I assisted John Quiggin by commenting on almost all the chapters, suggesting changes for clarity, completeness, anticipating responses, etc.  [https://johnquiggin.com/2018/08/30/economics-in-two-lessons-acknowledgements/ Earned myself a very nice credit!]
 +
 
 +
* [[Mike's Skepticism]]<br>I was briefly a contributing editor writing a monthly column for [http://www.suite101.com/ Suite101]. That ended when I did not meet deadlines. The originals were at: [http://www.suite101.com/topics/page.cfm/645 Skepticism].
  
 
*[[Disgust With Philosophy]]<br>I believe philosophical thinking is a necessary tool.  But not for any knowledge or wisdom.  The only valid use I find for philosophy is to REJECT ideas: most prominently those of philosophers.  When students tell me they are interested in philosophy, I want to steer them away from it: what a futile waste of time!   
 
*[[Disgust With Philosophy]]<br>I believe philosophical thinking is a necessary tool.  But not for any knowledge or wisdom.  The only valid use I find for philosophy is to REJECT ideas: most prominently those of philosophers.  When students tell me they are interested in philosophy, I want to steer them away from it: what a futile waste of time!   
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* I have a small index of writings against various [[Creationism]] arguments.
 
* I have a small index of writings against various [[Creationism]] arguments.
 
<br style="clear: both" />
 
<br style="clear: both" />
 
== Entomology and Evaniidae ==
 
[[Image:MouseMites.jpg|thumb|Mouse skin mites using Jamin-Lebedeff interference microscopy.]]
 
One of my true loves has always been [[Entomology]]. I used to specialize in [[Acarology]] (the study of mites), and built a collection of a thousand slide-mounted specimens (and who knows how many more in alcohol that I've never mounted.) I've got a substantial number of colorful mite photographs that I've always wanted to publish, photographed by my friends in the New York Microscopical Society and me. After my last sabbatical collecting insects in Ecuador (1988), I finally settled on my current specialization, the [[Evaniidae]] (a family of wasps that parasitize cockroach egg cases.) I study these at the [http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/ Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology] on an unofficial basis. I'm also a member of the [http://entclub.org/ Cambridge Entomological Club].
 
 
One of the fun aspects of being a wide-ranging collector is that [[Species|my collections are used for describing species.]]
 
[[Image:Neochlamisus gibbosus.jpg|thumb|A warty leaf beetle, Neochlamisus gibbosus (Fabricius, 1777).  Looks just like my car!]]
 
I always name my car: my current Scion xB is named Neoclamisus because it looks like the beetle.
 

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