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]]> 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 later this year. He asks “Where would you go to find out about mathematics? … There’s absolutely nowhere in this country. It’s very sad.”

Last week Wain and some supporters gathered at King’s College to discuss plans for the museum, which is tentatively known as “MathWorldUK.” They hope to provide something for persons of all ages, with a strong focus on interactivity and hands-on experimentation. Wain notes, “mathematics as a theoretical thing with no concrete side to it is what can kill it off, I think. … Having things you can actually do is really important.”

For additional details see this New Scientist article, from which the above notes were excerpted in part.

As the Crafoord Prize website . . . → Read More: 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 explains,

This year´s Crafoord Prize Laureates have solved an impressive number of important problems in mathematics. Their deep mathematical erudition and exceptional problem-solving ability have enabled them to discover many new and fruitful connections and to make fundamental contributions to current research in several branches of mathematics.

On their own and jointly with others, Jean Bourgain and Terence Tao have made important contributions to many fields of mathematics — from number theory to the theory of non-linear waves. The majority of their most fundamental results are in the field of mathematical analysis. They have developed and used the toolbox of analysis in groundbreaking and surprising ways. Their ability to change perspective and view problems from new angles has led to many remarkable insights, attracting a great deal of attention among researchers worldwide.

Bourgain and Tao will receive an award of SEK 4,000,000 (approximately USD 587,752) in a ceremony to be held in Lund, Sweden on 15 May 2012 hosted by the King and Queen of Sweden.

This piece briefly mentions the history of positional decimal arithmetic, from its original discovery by . . . → Read More: 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 unknown Indian mathematicians approximately 2000 years ago, to its modern incarnation (at least in binary) in computers. The article then speculates how history may have changed if either arithmetic had been discovered earlier, or it had been communicated to Greek mathematicians such as Archimedes.

It is based on an earlier blog by the present authors, available here: Expmath blog. This in turn has been cited by NPR in a discussion of the current  economy.

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]]> 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, we aim to make this wealth of knowledge and expertise accessible to all.

So far this has been done in a most lively and stimulating fashion; it is garnering readers within and without the academy from across the world let us hope it can be sustained and funded.

Half of Math Drudge has written twice for the Conversation; most recently a piece entitled If I had a blank cheque I’d…. as part of a weekly series “in which leading researchers reveal what they could (and would) do in their discipline if money were no object.”

Thirty years ago, mathematical computation was difficult to perform and thus used sparingly. However, mathematical computation . . . → Read More: 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 has become far more accessible due to the emergence of the personal computer, the discovery of fiber-optics and the consequent development of the modern internet, and the creation of Maple, Mathematica, and Matlab.

An Introduction to Modern Mathematical Computing: With Maple looks beyond teaching the syntax and semantics of Maple and similar programs, and focuses on why they are necessary tools for anyone who engages in mathematics. It is an essential read for mathematicians, mathematics educators, computer scientists, engineers, scientists, and anyone who wishes to expand their knowledge of mathematics. This volume will also explain how to become an “experimental mathematician,” and will supply useful information about how to create better proofs.

Additional details, as well as a link to a downloadable PDF file, are available at the Springer website.

The Collatz conjecture has been studied by . . . → Read More: 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 thousands of mathematicians and computer scientists. Portuguese mathematician Tomas Oliveira e Silva has verified the conjecture for all integers up to 5.76 x 10^18. But no proof has yet been found. Well-known mathematician Paul Erdos once characterized the Collatz conjecture as “Mathematics is not yet ready for such problems”. He offered a $500 reward for its solution.

Now German mathematician Gerhard Opfer (who coincidentally was a student of Collatz) has announced that he has proven the conjecture. A draft of his paper, which has been submitted to a journal for review, is available here.

Some additional information is available from this New Scientist article, from which some of the information above was excerpted. Additional information is given in an article by Jeffrey Lagarias, which is available here.

Added 3 Jun 2011: It now appears that the proof has flaws. See our post Quick tests for checking whether a new mathematical result is plausible.