The Story Collider

This week, we’re presenting stories about unexpected friendships in science, whether they’re formed in the field or at Burning Man.Part 1: Looking to connect with new people, mathematician Seth Cottrell sets up an ‘Ask a Mathematician’ booth at Burning Man.Part 2:  When herpetologist Joseph Mendelson gets his an opportunity to do fieldwork in Guatemala during his first year of graduate school, he struggles to connect with the locals.Seth Cottrell earned his PhD in mathematics from the Courant Institute at NYU.  His research is in quantum information and he teaches at New York City College of Technology.  For ten years, Seth has talked to complete strangers about math and physics and written about it at askamathematician.com.  His new book is “Do Colors Exist?: And Other Profound Physics Questions.”Joseph R. Mendelson III has been studying amphibians and reptiles for more than 30 years, concentrating mostly on Mexico and Central America. Most of his work has involved evolutionary studies and taxonomy―including