In this newsletter:
* Latest news
* Mathematical moments
* Browse with Plus
* Live maths
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Latest news
* Did a philosopher kill WALL-E?
Star-crossed lovers
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/may-aug08/walle/index.html
* Maths in space
Solving two unrelated problems at once
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/may-aug08/algebra/index.html
Plus... read more on the Plus blog, including your chance to vote for your
favourite fictional mathematician: http://plus.maths.org/blog
And for all the Plus podcasts, see:
http://plus.maths.org/podcasts/
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Mathematical moments
* Mark Kac
Born: 3 August 1914
Died: 26 October 1984
"There are surely worse things than being wrong, and being dull and
pedantic are surely among them."
Mark Kac was a Polish mathematician born into a Jewish family in a Russian
part of Poland whose main interest was probability theory. His question,
"Can you hear the shape of a drum?" kick-started research into spectral
theory, and his book "Mathematics and Logic: Retrospect and Prospects",
co-written with Stanislaw Ulam is a minor classic. He had an idiosyncratic
way with words and was often quoted - his distinction between an "ordinary
genius" like Hans Bethe and a "magician" like Richard Feynman is well known
in mathematical circles.
Kac pioneered the modern development of mathematical probability, in
particular its applications to statistical physics. The method of
quantisation now in use involves the Feynman-Kac path integral and his text
"Statistical Independence in Probability, Analysis and Number Theory" is
regarded as a classic.
Many remember Kac for his famous paper "Can One Hear the Shape of a Drum?"
and his Chauvenet Prize from the Mathematical Association of America for
"most outstanding expository article on a mathematical topic by a member of
the Association."
In addition to the Chauvenet, Kac was awarded the George David Birkhoff
Prize in Applied Mathematics in 1978 for "his important contributions to
statistical mechanics and to probability theory and its applications."
For more information, see MacTutor:
http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Kac.html
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Browse with Plus
* Who is your favourite fictional mathematician?
We all have favourite movie characters, but who is your favourite fictional
mathematician?
It is quite difficult to compile a list of fictional mathematicians, but at
Plus we have given it a go. Scientists are often portrayed in films -
usually as mad - but there are very few who are specialised mathematicians.
We think we have come up with a list that covers most well-known fictional
mathematicians, although it is debatable whether some are even
mathematicians at all! We are asking for your opinion - who is your
favourite?
The link to the poll is here:
http://plus.maths.org/blog/2008/07/who-is-your-favourite-fictional.html
Have we missed yours off the list? Please leave a comment blog and let us
know. So far there have been a number of good mathematicians posted that we
didn't think of! So let us know.
Site:
http://plus.maths.org/blog/2008/07/who-is-your-favourite-fictional.html
* Understanding Uncertainty
Are you uncertain? Are you struggling with risk, doubt, ignorance,
ambiguity and indecision? You are not on your own. "Understanding
Uncertainty" tries to make some sense of what we hear about chance, risk,
uncertainty and probability.
The site is: http://understandinguncertainty.org/
Since its launch in May 2008, some of the feature topics have included:
- Why surprising things happen;
- The history of the UK Lottery and some apparently remarkable events.
Is it all just chance?
- The English Football Premier League - who really are the best and
worst teams?
The site is produced by the Winton programme for the public understanding
of risk based in the Statistical Laboratory in the University of Cambridge.
The aim is to help improve the way that uncertainty and risk are discussed
in society, and show how probability and statistics can be both useful and
entertaining! However they also acknowledge that uncertainty is not just a
matter of working out numerical chances, and aim for an appropriate balance
between qualitative and quantitative insights.
One of the authors, David Spiegelhalter, writes a regular column for Plus -
http://plus.maths.org/etc.html#risk
Site: http://understandinguncertainty.org/
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Live maths
* BA Festival of Science
When: 6 - 11 September 2008
How much: Price varies but lots of free events
Who for: Whole family
It is still a month away, but start making your plans now as accommodation
in Liverpool, the European Capital of Culture '08, will run out quickly
when it hosts Europe's largest science festival from 6 - 11 September. The
week long BA Festival of Science offers the biggest celebration of science,
engineering and technology in Europe, with events for everyone in and
around Liverpool including talks, plays, debates, hands on activities and
more. Find out about the science of superheroes, which Beatles memory is
most magical and what happens when science and culture collide. There are
also plenty of maths events for young children right up to experts in the
field.
Plus attended the 2007 version in York and can attest to it being a good
time. See our report on the blog:
http://plus.maths.org/blog/2007/09/ba-festival-of-science-day-3.html
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Happy reading from the Plus team.
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--
Marc West
Plus Magazine
http://plus.maths.org:
Millennium Mathematics Project, Centre for Mathematical Sciences
University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA
email: [log in to unmask]
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