Undergraduate Colloquium Winter 2010
Wednesday at 5:00 pm in Baskin 301A
For further information please contact
Frank Bauerle, bauerle@ucsc.edu
January 13, 2010
Games Night
Dr. Frank Bauerle, Continuing Lecturer, UCSC Mathematics Department
To start off the new decade (a year early of course), we will be hosting Games Night, where we will be bringing a variety of Games to play. A few examples we may choose from are: Settler's of Catan, Ricochet Robots, Quoridor, and Set. Hope to see you there for a little friendly competition!
January 27, 2010
Movie Night: The Proof: A documentary about Andrew Wiles' work on Fermat's Last Theorem
Dr. Frank Bauerle, Continuing Lecturer, UCSC Mathematics Department
For over 350 years, some of the greatest minds of science struggled to prove what was known as Fermat's Last Theorem - the idea that a certain simple equation had no solutions in positive integers. The theorem has gained notoriety in part because of the following published statement by Pierre de Fermat: "It is impossible for a cube to be the sum of two cubes, a fourth power to be the sum of two fourth powers, or in general for any number that is a power greater than the second to be the sum of two like powers. I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition that this margin is too narrow to contain." Now hear from the man who spent many years of his life cracking the problem.
February 3, 2010
Games Night
Dr. Frank Bauerle, Continuing Lecturer, UCSC Mathematics Department
To start off the new decade (a year early of course), we will be hosting Games Night, where we will be bringing a variety of Games to play. A few examples we may choose from are: Settler's of Catan, Ricochet Robots, Quoridor, and Set. Hope to see you there for a little friendly competition!
February 10, 2010
Carl Friedrich Gauss: His Life and Work
Professor Peter Hauber, Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule fuer Technik)
There is no question that Gauss is one of the most important and influential mathematicians of all time. In this talk, Professor Hauber will present Gauss' biography, some of his mathematics, and a bit of general history as background. Most of the talk is accessible to a general audience, but additional mathematical detail is available on request.
February 17, 2010
Stampede of the spherical cows: a simple approach to complexity
Professor Debra Lewis, UCSC Mathematics Department
Mathematicians are the idealists of the natural sciences. We'll typically choose a rigorous analysis of a highly simplified model over an incomplete, approximate analysis of a more realistic model. Does this mean that mathematicians loathe complex systems? That depends on what you mean by "complex". Some of the most important contributions of chaos theory are based on very simple mathematical models with very interesting, very "complicated" behavior. Of course, we already know that life is complicated; there's no need for a mathematical proof of that. The goal of chaos theory is to reveal the structure underlying chaotic systems, enabling us to reliably predict qualitative behavior even when precise forecasts are impossible.
February 24, 2010
Education Abroad for Science and Mathematics Majors
Professor Debra Lewis and Continuing Lecturer Frank Bauerle
Ever consider studying abroad? Worried about what this will mean for your studies or your bank balance? At this week's colloquium we will be discussing the opportunities and options for math and other science majors to study abroad. Some recent Education Abroad Program (EAP) participants and a peer counselor from the Office of International Education will lead the discussion and offer advice on program and course selection. Professor Debra Lewis (chair, Committee on International Education, and EAP 1979-80) and Continuing Lecturer Frank Bauerle will also share their views and personal experiences.
March 3, 2010
Games Night
Dr. Frank Bauerle, Continuing Lecturer, UCSC Mathematics Department
We will be hosting Games Night, where we will be bringing a variety of Games to play.
A few examples we may choose from are: Settler's of Catan, Ricochet Robots, Quoridor, and Set. Of course you are also invited to bring your own. Hope to see you there for a little friendly competition!
March 10, 2010
Movie Night: Infinite Series: Archimedes and Pi
Dr. Frank Bauerle, Continuing Lecturer, UCSC Mathematics Department
In celebration of Pi Day (on March 14th), we will be showing Infinite Secrets, a NOVA episode on Archimedes and Pi. Archimedes is the most famous of the ancient mathematicians and the first to calculate a good approximation for Pi. He wanted to find a value as close as possible to the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, and his method foreshadows modern methods in calculus. More info on the movie can be found here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/archimedes/
