Wednesday 12:00 noon Dana 110
This GREAT movie introduces its audience to what may well be the most famous mathematical problem of all time, and the most exciting mathematical discovery we're likely to see in our lifetimes. It provides an excellent glimpse into the thrill of scientific discovery and what it means to be a mathematician! Moreover, the movie is accessible to mathematicians and non-mathematicians alike (although it should be of special interest to mathematicians and computer scientists). And John Conway (of Dickinson Priestly Lecture fame) appears in it. Everyone should see this movie!
Eureka! For Princeton math whiz Andrew Wiles, tackling an equation is like groping around in a dark mansion, finding the light switch, and suddenly seeing, with utter clarity, where you are. But in Wiles' case, the mathematical challenge of his childhood --- proving Fermat's Last Theorem, a famous enigma that had stumped experts for three centuries --- would take eight years of seclusion. With Wiles' apparent success came the triumphant glare of publicity... until a disappointing discovery forced him back undercover to retrace the steps of his difficult quest.
Follow a fascinating tale of obsession, secrecy, and the camaraderie of
kindred souls. Enter a rarified world inhabited by the foremost
mathematical minds, where the joy of finding an absolute solution is
giddily contagious --- whether that proof is entirely your own or a bridge
linking other mathematicians' conjectures. With the help of computer
animation, see complex mathematical conceots, such as elliptical curves
(the basis of elliptic curve cryptography) and modular forms, pictured in
beautiful 3-D symmetry. And hear Wiles himself describe the "incredible
revelation" that finally led him --- and three centuries of mathematicians
--- out of the dark. "Fermat's Last Theorem has been responsible for so
much," marvels John Conway, "What will we find to take its place?"
Prof. Barry Tesman
Many great Theorems in mathematics have their roots in a very simple
observation or question. In 1852, Francis Guthrie noticed that if regions
on a map which share a common boundary are differently colored then four
colors suffice for the whole map. This led to the proof of the four color
theorem in 1976! Pierre de Fermat, around 1630, noted that x^n + y^n = z^n
has no nontrivial integral solution for n > 2. It was not until 1995 when
Andrew Wiles published his proof and finally settled this 300-year old
conjecture. In this talk, I will show how a simple telephone number led to
an abundance of mathematical research.
Professor Sig Treu
The fact that the human mind is associative in nature has been known for a
long time. It stands to reason, therefore, that the designers of
human-computer interfaces should take advantage of such mental strength
exhibited by computer users. However, for many years the objective of
rendering the interface more conducive and complementary to the way people
think was rather elusive. Vannevar Bush envisioned over half a century ago
an associative system named "memex." Are we anywhere closer now to what he
hypothesized? This talk portrays the remarkable progress that has indeed
been made and uses it as one indicator of the importance of conducting
graduate study and research in the discipline of computer science.
Prof. David Richeson
The Euler characteristic is a classical invariant of topological
spaces. In this talk we will introduce the Euler characteristic and show
how it relates to vector fields. We will show how the Euler characteristic
relates to the hairy ball theorem, the classification of surfaces and
uniqueness of the platonic solids.
Vonn Walter
Ruler and compass constructions, which were well-known to ancient
Greek mathematicans, are a standard topic in today's high school geometry
courses. Unfortunately these classes only provide a brief glimpse of the
results that can be achieved with these "rudimentary" tools. In this talk
we will consider one of the highlights of ruler and compass constructions,
Hippocrates' Quadrature of the Lune.
Tom Edgar
Water is encountered everywhere around us. While most times it is just
accepted for its serenity and beauty, a mathematical system exists beyond
what our eyes can see. I spent the summer researching this system with
Professor Richeson, and we have developed a basic course teaching the
basic theory behind water motion. Using some basic mathematical theory and
computer programs, the chat should give a basic knowledge of the system
behind water and hopefully inspire further thought for further research.
Kirsten Guss
The development of the wing in the fruit fly D. melanogaster is controlled
by two proteins, Vestigial and Scalloped. These proteins function together,
with Scalloped acting as a transcription factor that directly controls the
expression of genes in the wing. The Scalloped protein recognizes a
sequence of bases, or motif, in the DNA in the regulatory regions of genes.
The Scalloped protein physically binds at these motifs, which results in a
gene being turned on in the developing wing. I am using computational
approaches to identify additional locations of these motifs in the D.
melanogaster genome. In this manner, I hope to identify additional target
genes of Scalloped activity. I will be discussing recent approaches and
results.
11/26/01 - "Dial M for Mathematics"
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Dickinson College
11/12/01 - Associativity in Human-Computer Interface Design: An Indicator of Remarkable Progress
University of Pittsburgh
10/28/01 - Rubber sheets, hairy hedgehogs and the platonic solids: applications of the Euler characteristic
Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Dickinson College
10/15/01 - Ruler and Compass Constructions
Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Dickinson College
10/1/01 - Unlocking the Mystery of Water Waves
Senior Mathematics Major
Dickinson College
9/17/01 - Computer approaches to investigate biological questions.
Assistant Professor of Biology
Dickinson College
Chats from previous semesters:
[ Spring 2001
| Fall 2000
| Spring 2000
| Fall 1999
| Spring 1999
| Fall 1998
]
[ Math/CS Dept Home page
| Mathematics and Computer Science Society Home page
]