Researchers seek UK home for mathematics museum

Geoff Wain, a mathematics educator at Leeds University, is promoting an initiative to organize a museum of mathematics in the U.K.

Wain notes the successful Mathematikum in Giessen, Germany, which opened in 2002 and now attracts 150,000 visitors per year, and the Museum of Mathematics in New York City, which is slated to open . . . → Read More: Researchers seek UK home for mathematics museum

Jean Bourgain and Terence Tao receive Crafoord Prize in mathematics

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2012 Crafoord Prize to Jean Bourgain (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, USA) and Terence Tao (U.C. Los Angeles) “for their brilliant and groundbreaking work in harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, ergodic theory, number theory, combinatorics, functional analysis and theoretical computer science”.

As the Crafoord Prize website . . . → Read More: Jean Bourgain and Terence Tao receive Crafoord Prize in mathematics

Proposed mathematical journal rating system

In response to the use of citation data in research assessments such as Excellence in Research for Australia, the International Mathematical Union (IMU) and the International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ICIAM) are considering producing a mathematics journal rating system to mitigate the exploitation of commercial or national rating methods, see also the 2008 . . . → Read More: Proposed mathematical journal rating system

“Exploratory Experimentation and Computation” published in AMS Notices

An article entitled “Exploratory Experimentation and Computation,” authored by the present bloggers, has appeared in the November 2011 issue of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society. The full PDF of the article is available Here. The article has been highlighted in a number of press reports, including: LBNL News, Science Daily, Eurekalert, Physorg, Newswise, . . . → Read More: “Exploratory Experimentation and Computation” published in AMS Notices

Borwein gives talk on teaching and learning

Professor Jonathan M. Borwein delivered the keynote talk Teaching and Researching with Collaboration Tools and Technology as part of the 2011 Australian Learning and Teaching Council workshop, “Effective Teaching, Effective Learning in the Quantitative Disciplines,” held 29-30 Sep 2011 at the University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia. This practical, hands-on and interactive workshop immediately followed the . . . → Read More: Borwein gives talk on teaching and learning

Magic numbers

The Conversation, an online forum from the Australian academic research community and aimed at the interested public, has featured an essay written by the present bloggers. Entitled “Magic numbers: the beauty of decimal notation,” it is available here: Conversation article.

This piece briefly mentions the history of positional decimal arithmetic, from its original discovery by . . . → Read More: Magic numbers

Turning IBM’s Watson into a maths genius

The Conversation  is a recently established web journal dedicated to making academic and related policy issues accessible to an informed public. The editors write:

The Conversation is an independent source of information, analysis and commentary from the university and research sector – written by acknowledged experts and delivered directly to the public. As professional journalists, . . . → Read More: Turning IBM’s Watson into a maths genius

An Introduction to Modern Mathematical Computing

A new book, co-authored by one of the present bloggers is now available: An Introduction to Modern Mathematical Computing: With Maple, authored by Jonathan M. Borwein and Matthew P. Skerritt, published by Springer, 2011. Here is a brief synopsis:

Thirty years ago, mathematical computation was difficult to perform and thus used sparingly. However, mathematical computation . . . → Read More: An Introduction to Modern Mathematical Computing

Has the 3n+1 conjecture been proved?

In 1937, Lothar Collatz proposed the following conjecture: Start with a positive integer n, then repeatedly iterate the following: If n is even, divide it by 2; if n is odd, compute 3*n+1. Collatz conjectured that for every starting value n, the result will invariably return to 1.

The Collatz conjecture has been studied by . . . → Read More: Has the 3n+1 conjecture been proved?

Borwein to participate in World Science Festival panel

Prof. Jonathan M. Borwein of the University of Newcastle in Australia (one of the present bloggers) will participate in a panel discussion at the World Science Festival, to be held on 3 Jun 2011 7:00pm in the Tishman Auditorium at the New School, 66 W 12th Street, New York City, USA. Other panelists are Keith . . . → Read More: Borwein to participate in World Science Festival panel