School of Mathematics

MATHEMATICS AT THE EDINBURGH SCIENCE FESTIVAL

The Edinburgh Science Festival (9-22 April) will feature 3 mathematics events

1. Winning Ways

Discover how the mathematics of games can give you winning strategies for life. (For children).

A team of undergraduate and postgraduate students from the School will act as helpers!

National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, 13-17 April • Free

2. The Mathematics of Holes

Mathematics may begin with numbers, but it doesn’t end there. Motions, machines, computations and colourings are allmathematical territory. Join Robert Ghrist from the University ofPennsylvania to explore topology, the mathematical study of theholes in our world. When your mobile loses a call, or your GPSmistakes your route, mathematics will have an explanation. This lecture is co-sponsored by the School of Mathematics Topology Seminar, the School of Informatics and ICMS

Tuesday, 12th April, 7pm • 1 hour • £5/£4

International Centre for Mathematical Sciences. .

Poster

3. Counting Dots

Join Professor Keith Ball, the Scientific Director of the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences, to explore the fascinating story of Pick’s theorem. Georg Pick’s research used dots to measure the area of shapes. It later became the basis for fascinating discoveries about prime numbers, encryption andthe children’s toy, Spirograph.

Thursday, 14th April, 7pm • 1 hour • £5/£4

International Centre for Mathematical Sciences, 15 South College Street