11th Annual Richard & Louise Guy Lecture: Poetry, Drumming and Mathematics
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Mathematics pervades all the sciences, but it also lies at the heart of a number of fields in the humanities. Two such important subjects which go back to ancient times are linguistics and music. In fact, many of the modern mathematical tools used in probability and combinatorics, and tools applied in varied technologies, such as those on NASA space missions, originate in problems encountered by linguists and musicians thousands of years ago. A look at some of these ancient, poetic problems - and their remarkable solutions through the ages - reveals much about the nature of human thought and the origins of mathematics.
Additional Information
Location: Ballroom, MacEwan Hall
ABOUT THE RICHARD AND LOUISE GUY LECTURE SERIES:
The Richard & Louise Guy lecture series celebrates the joy of discovery and wonder in mathematics for everyone. Indeed, the lecture series was a 90th birthday present from Louise Guy to Richard in recognition of his love of mathematics and his desire to share his passion with the world. Richard Guy is the author of over 100 publications including works in combinatorial game theory, number theory and graph theory. He strives to make mathematics accessible to all. The other contributions to the lecture series have been made by Elwyn Berlekamp (2006), John Conway (2007), Richard Nowakowski (2008), William Pulleyblank (2009), Erik Demaine (2010), Noam Elkies (2011), Ravi Vakil (2012), Carl Pomerance (2013), Edward Doolittle (2014) and Ronald Lewis Graham (2015).
Manjul Bhargava, Princeton University
Manjul Bhargava is the R. Brandon Fradd Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University, the Stieltjes Professor of Number Theory at Leiden University and also holds adjunct professorships at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and the University of Hyderabad. He is known primarily for his contributions to number theory.
