Math Matters: IMA Public Lectures

The IMA public lecture series raise awareness of the impact of mathematical research on everyday life. The IMA is proud to present the 2004-2005 IMA public lecture series Math Matters, featuring four exceptional lectures on the role of mathematics in understanding our world and shaping our lives. The speakers will share their insights into the power of mathematics to describe our universe in ever greater detail and to create increasingly detailed imaginary universes, to trace the intricate structure of an abstract proof and the melancholy logic of a troubled marriage.

The renowned mathematician, physicist, and author Sir Roger Penrose got this year's IMA public lecture series Math Matters off to a spectacular start with his talk Does Mathematics Rule the World?. Penrose captivated a standing-room only, elbow-to-elbow in the aisles crowd with his masterful presentation of mathematical physics. He began by posing the philosophical question: Do mathematical laws govern the behavior of the physical universe in complete, precise detail, or are the perceived laws of physics simply the product of our desire to impose order on an inconceivably complex world? He then took his audience on an accessible, yet impressively sophisticated tour of general relativity and quantum mechanics.

Penrose's talk was accompanied by beautiful hand-drafted illustrations. These drawings gave the audience insight into the thoughts and visions of an exceptional mind. The visual aspect of Penrose's creativity is well-known: the Penrose staircase, which he invented in collaboration with his father, is a fascinating perceptual puzzle, while the Penrose tiling is a mesmeric solution to a long-standing geometric problem. Penrose's sketches gave form to mathematical and physical concepts, from the five elements and their corresponding Platonic solids, to light cones and spin states, and in doing so allowed the audience to glimpse a great theorist's vision of the mathematical world.

Professor Sir Roger Penrose, FRS OM, is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of the University of Oxford.

The other three talks in the 2004-2005 Math Matters public lecture series will be

• November 18, 2004
  Professor James D. Murray
  (University of Oxford and University of Washington)
  The Marriage Equation: A Practical Theory for Predicting Divorce and a Scientifically-Based Marital Therapy
  
• February 9, 2005
  Dr. David Baraff
  (Pixar Animation Studios)
  Math Behind the Curtains: Dynamic Simulation at Pixar
  
• March 30, 2005
  Professor Thomas C. Hales
  (University of Pittsburgh)
  Computers and the Future of Mathematical Proof