The nerds at Slashdot have been discussing the book Mathematics and Sex by Australian mathematician Clio Cresswell. She was once voted one of the 25 most beautiful people in Australia. For a mathematician she’s pretty fine [large jpg], but for a cookery writer she’s no great shakes. Amongst other gems, the book applies insights gained from the Optimal Stopping Problem to the question of which of 100 potential mates you should choose. Answer: anyone after the 37th who’s better than the ones you’ve met before. My favourite contribution in the forum was a link to an explanation “Why I Will Never Have a Girlfriend“.