In this newsletter:

- Latest news
- Browse with Plus
- Mathematical moments
- Live maths
- The Plus new writers award

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Latest news

Winning background research
    There might not be a Nobel Prize for mathematics, but maths is at the
    heart of the 2006 Nobel Prizes.
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/sep-dec06/nobel06/index.html

Still life
  Mathematics illustrates the forefront of visualising science
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/sep-dec06/visualisation/index.html

Connections in space
  A new piece of free educational software
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/sep-dec06/space/index.html

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Browse with Plus

Solipsys - The maths of juggling

Juggling is all about rhythm and patterns and the language of these is, of 
course, maths. This website teaches you all the standard juggling tricks, as 
well as a few more exotic ones, and gets into the maths used to describe them.

http://www.solipsys.co.uk/new/SolipsysLimited.html?index



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Mathematical moments

Marie-Louise Dubreil-Jacotin
Born: 7th of July 1905 in Paris, France
Died: 19th of October 1972 in Paris, France

Dubreil-Jacotin stood out in her time not only because of her brilliance as a 
mathematician, but also because she was a woman. In the 1920s, the quality 
schooling that students of her calibre deserved largely excluded girls, and it 
was only through the intervention of a well-connected friend that she was 
allowed to pursue her baccalaureate in elementary maths at the College de 
Chaptal.

Once at the school, however, she proved her merit and eventually came second in 
the entrance exams to the Ecole Normale Superieure, one of the most prestigous 
higher education institutions in France. But the battle wasn't over: when the 
official ranking of the exams was published, she had been demoted to 21st 
place, at the tail end of a list of 20 male students. Again it was only through 
considerable pressure exerted by people who recognised her talent that she was 
eventually admitted.

Dubreil-Jacotin wrote her thesis on fluid mechanics. She established the 
existence of an infinite family of waves of ideal fluids, and her extended work 
on the subject had important applications both in hydraulic engineering and 
meteorology. A prolonged stay at the University of Goettingen, however, brought 
her in contact with the maths giants David Hilbert and Hermann Weyl, who 
sparked her interest in algebra.

She had married fellow mathematician Paul Dubreil in 1930 and after their joint 
stay in Goettingen the two came up against what mathematician couples call the 
"two body problem": how to both find appointments in the same town. Dubreil was 
appointed by the University of Nancy, but the university was unsure about 
Dubreil-Jacotin's academic merit and didn't like the idea of employing both 
halves of a married couple. Dubreil-Jacotin, therefore, accepted a position of 
research assistant at the University of Rennes.

In 1936 their daughter Edith was born. With both parents working in different 
towns, her upbringing became a difficult undertaking, involving weekly train 
journeys that, during the war, were not only tiresome but also dangerous.

In spite of these obstacles, Dubreil-Jacotin continued to pursue her career and 
in 1943 was appointed as full professor at the University of Poitiers. Here she 
put together, and actively participated in, a brilliant group of algebraists 
that produced much influential work. In 1956 Dubreil-Jacotin and her husband 
were finally able to live together in Paris, where she was one of the first 
women appointed to the Faculty of Science.

Dubreil-Jacotin is remembered not only as a great mathematician, teacher and 
supervisor, but also as a pioneer who helped to open the doors for the 
generations of female academics to come.

Read more about Dubreil-Jacotin on the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive: 
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Dubreil-Jacotin.html

Read more about women in maths on Plus:
http://plus.maths.org/indices/keyword_urls.html#WOMEN%20IN%20MATHEMATICS


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Live maths

The Cambridge music festival

Cambridge's triennial festival this year couples Mozart, Maths and Music. 
Earlier festivals have celebrated something unique to Cambridge, and this 
year's theme pays tribute to the city's distinction in the field of 
mathematics. The festival involves Stephen Hawking and music from Newton's 
time, as well as a wide range of music to provide illustrations of Leibniz' 
claim that "Music is the pleasure the human mind experiences from counting 
without being aware that it is counting". Highlights include a musical 
exploration of Newton's invention of the cat flap and a sequence of concerts 
based on the number pi - with pies for lunch!

When: 5 - 25 November 2006
Where: various venues around Cambridge
Information and booking: http://www.cammusic.co.uk/index.html

Mathematics in the modern age - The 19th century: Revolution or evolution?

What is a number? Can you solve a quintic equation? Is Euclid true? and is the 
calculus correct? The 19th century witnessed major breakthroughs in geometry, 
algebra and calculus, and a move back to basics. But were these the results of 
continual change, or did they indicate a revolution in the subject? Find out 
the answers in this free public lecture with Professor Robin Wilson.

When: 25 October 2006, 1pm and 6pm
Where: Gresham College
           Barnard's Inn Hall
           Holborn
           London EC1N 2HH
Information: http://www.gresham.ac.uk


Did Einstein get it right?

How did Einstein's theory of general relativity improve on Newton's 17th 
century theory of gravity? In this free lecture, Professor John D Barrow FRS 
gives a simple explanation of Einstein's general theory of relativity and shows 
how well it does in explaining many unusual features where Newton's theory 
fails. Expanding universes, black holes, gravitational lenses and gravitational 
redshifts are predictions of Einstein's theory. We learn why Einstein's theory 
is better confirmed than any other piece of human knowledge.

Where: 26 October 2006, 1pm
Venue: The Lecture Theatre,
        The Museum of London, London EC2
Information: http://www.gresham.ac.uk


The Mathematics of Luck, Risk & Gambling

Are you lucky or just obeying the laws of chance? Simon Singh, author of 
Fermat's Last Theorem, looks at the mathematics behind various situations.

When: 27 October 2006, 5pm
Where: Oxford Playhouse
           11 - 12 Beaumont Street
           Oxford OX1 2LW 
Tickets: Adults £6, children £4
Information and booking: 
http://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/Calendar/OPH/View.asp?ID=275


Happy reading from the Plus team!

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