Latest news from Plus magazine! - http://plus.maths.org
In this newsletter:
- Latest news
- Browse with Plus
- Mathematical moments
- Live maths
- The Plus new writers award
- Apologies
**********
Latest news
Relating relativity - A mathematical model describes how we use language to
convey complex ideas
http://www.plus.maths.org/latestnews/may-aug06/language/index.html
Chaos in not a desk toy - Physicists create a quantum Newton's cradle and
witness the absence of chaos for the first time
http://www.plus.maths.org/latestnews/may-aug06/newtonscradle/index.html
Plus... more news from the world of maths
The million dollar questions
http://www.plus.maths.org/latestnews/jan-apr05/plusmore35/index.html#clay
Maths maps musical emotion
http://www.plus.maths.org/latestnews/jan-apr05/plusmore35/index.html#music
29 steps to universal
http://www.plus.maths.org/latestnews/jan-apr05/plusmore35/index.html#quadraticforms
**********
Browse with Plus
Tabloid maths
If you think that Plus is altogether too serious and broadsheety, why not
check out The Sum? http://www.counton.org/thesum/index.php
Zoology of numbers
Denis Bilodeau has kindly sent us this interesting link that tells you all
you could possibly want to know about the numbers between 0 and 500
http://www.archimedes-lab.org/numbers/Num1_69.html
**********
Mathematical moments
Jean Baptiste Fourier - Born 21st of March 1768 in Auxerre, France
Died 16th of May 1830 in Paris, France
Every periodic function can be expressed as an infinite sum of sine and
cosine functions. This probably is Fourier's most famous result and his
name remains attached to these infinite sums. Fourier analysis, the process
of splitting a function into its constituent sine and cosine parts, is
invaluable when it comes to analysing anything that travels in waves.
Music, speech and image analysis, as well as the compression of sounds and
images, and analysis of weather and seismic data are just a few examples of
the applications of Fourier analysis. It has particularly come into its own
since the rise of computers, because our digital and finitely-minded
computers can only understand complicated wave forms - like those coming
from music - if they are approximated by their constituent sine and cosine
waves.
Looking at Fourier's life, though, you'd be forgiven to wonder how he found
the time to do serious maths. Not sure if he was destined for maths or for
a religious life, Fourier started training to be a priest in 1787.
He never took his religious vows, rather he entered the Revolutionary
Committee in 1793. Caught up in revolutionary whirlwinds he was put into
jail the following year, fearing the guillotine, but was luckily freed
after Robespierre's execution.
He decided to enter teacher training at the newly-established Ecole Normale
in 1795, where he was taught by Laplace and Lagrange. But politics didn't
let go of him. As scientific advisor to Napoleon's army he joined the
invasion of Egypt in 1798, where he got stuck after the French were
defeated by Nelson's fleet.
The following year saw him helping to found the Institute of Cairo and
engage in archaeology before returning to Paris for a quiet life that
wasn't meant to be. Napoleon demanded him for the role of prefect in
Grenoble. It was during his time there that he wrote his most important
work on the propagation of heat in solid bodies, in which he established
the now famous Fourier series. Fourier was uneasy about his relationship
with Napoleon and even ran away when Napoleon was marching on Grenoble
after escaping exile in Elba, yet he never seemed to quite free himself
from Napoleon's grip.
Fourier returned to Paris after Napoleon's final defeat and resumed his
mathematical research in the last years of his life.
You can read more about Fourier on the MacTutor history of maths page
http://www.gap-system.org/~history/Biographies/Fourier.html
and find out more about Fourier series on MathWorld
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FourierSeries.html.
**********
Live maths
Maths and the fight against crime
You have to be quick to catch this one. In this free public lecture,
organised by the Millennium Mathematics Project, Professor Chris Budd will
show how maths is playing an increasingly important role in crime scene
investigations, helping forensic scientists work out a range of problems
including the trajectories of bullets, fingerprint recognition and the
speed of moving vehicles. Maths may well be the thing to study if you want
to be the next Sherlock Holmes.
When: 18th May 2006 at 2.30 pm
Where: Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Clarkson Road, Cambridge
Age range: 11-13
Tickets are free but you must reserve them by emailing [log in to unmask]
Visit http://mmp.maths.org/events/eventlist.php for more information.
Mathematical Opportunities Day for Year 10 pupils
This is a special event aimed at able Year 10s who expect to continue their
studies in mathematics post-16. The day will include a lecture by Professor
Tom Korner (Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics,
University of Cambridge), an exploration of careers options using
mathematics with the editors of Plus and a hands-on problem solving session
led by NRICH staff (http://www.nrich.maths.org). There will also be the
opportunity to share the experience by planning a maths activity for Year
7s, and careers information for your school will be provided.
To register you must fill in the booking form available on
http://mmp.maths.org/events/eventlist.php. Please note that due to the
demand for this event, there is a maximum limit of 10 students from each
school.
When: 20th of July 2006, 9.45 - 2.45 pm
Where: Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Clarkson Road, Cambridge
**********
The Plus new writers award
The Plus new writers award has now been launched! See if you can become a
Plus author, get published in the December issue and even win an iPod, by
sending us an inspiring maths related article. For more details visit
http://plus.maths.org/competition. Please pass this information on to
anyone who may be interested. Competition closes September 30th 2006.
**********
Apologies
When we first launched the Plus new writers award last week, we said on the
website and in our newsletter that the competition closes September 31st.
We've now been informed that this day doesn't exist. We are very sorry if
this has caused you confusion and would like to point out that the closing
date has been moved to September 30th. Thanks to all of you who emailed us
- whoever said mathematicians lived in the real world?
Happy reading from the Plus team!
**********
If you received this message you have subscribed yourself to the
PLUS-ANNOUNCE mailing list via our website. If you do not wish to remain on
the list please visit
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa.exe?SUBED1=plus-announce&A=1
and follow the instructions to leave the list.
If you have any comments on this newsletter, or Plus Magazine, please
contact us at [log in to unmask] - we are always happy to hear from our
readers!
Feel free to forward this email to anyone you think might be interested.
|
