Science and Math Colloquium Series
Science and Math Colloquium Series
The Science and Mathematics Colloquium Series invites distinguished
speakers from science and mathematics disciplines to present current,
exciting scientific research to Columbia College faculty, staff, and
students, as well as Chicago's South Loop community. Talks are intended
to introduce a general audience to a wide variety of important advances
in science and math, their potential applications, and public policy
implications. Reflecting the arts emphasis at Columbia College, select
talks examine the intersections among science, math, art, and the media.
All lectures are free and open to the public. A brief reception will precede each talk in the Ferguson Auditorium Lobby.
Colloquium Series Fall 09 Brochure (.pdf file)
November 4
5:00-6:00 pm
Ferguson Auditorium, 600 S. Michigan Ave
Is God A Mathematician?
Dr Mario Livio, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
For centuries, mathematical theories have proven uncannily accurate at describing - and predicting - the physical world. What is it that gives mathematics such powers?
I will thoroughly review this question in "Is God A Mathematician?" (a talk based on my recently published popular book). The talk will span such fields as mathematics, cosmology, physics, and the cognitive sciences, and will attempt to offer an accessible and lively account of the ideas of some of the greatest mathematicians and scientists in history, from Archimedes to Galileo and Descartes, and from Newton to Hilbert and Gödel, on up to the present day.
Along the way I will discuss another question with which mathematicians, philosophers, and neuroscientists have struggled for centuries: Is mathematics ultimately invented or discovered?
Mario Livio is a senior astrophysicist and the Head of the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland. He is the author of The Golden Ratio, a highly acclaimed book about mathematics and art for which he received the International Pythagoras Prize and the Peano Prize, The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved, and The Accelerating Universe. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
This talk is co-sponsored by the Critical Encounters.
All lectures are free and open to the public. A brief reception will precede each talk in the Ferguson Auditorium Lobby.
Fall 2009
Colloquium Series Fall 09 Brochure (.pdf file)
November 4
5:00-6:00 pm
Ferguson Auditorium, 600 S. Michigan Ave
Is God A Mathematician?
Dr Mario Livio, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
For centuries, mathematical theories have proven uncannily accurate at describing - and predicting - the physical world. What is it that gives mathematics such powers?
I will thoroughly review this question in "Is God A Mathematician?" (a talk based on my recently published popular book). The talk will span such fields as mathematics, cosmology, physics, and the cognitive sciences, and will attempt to offer an accessible and lively account of the ideas of some of the greatest mathematicians and scientists in history, from Archimedes to Galileo and Descartes, and from Newton to Hilbert and Gödel, on up to the present day.
Along the way I will discuss another question with which mathematicians, philosophers, and neuroscientists have struggled for centuries: Is mathematics ultimately invented or discovered?
Mario Livio is a senior astrophysicist and the Head of the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland. He is the author of The Golden Ratio, a highly acclaimed book about mathematics and art for which he received the International Pythagoras Prize and the Peano Prize, The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved, and The Accelerating Universe. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
This talk is co-sponsored by the Critical Encounters.