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“All too often in lectures and books about mathematics, one is simply told a theorem and its proof. This can leave important questions unanswered, such as the following: why should one bother with the theorem, does the proof have certain unavoidable features (this question one may feel particularly acutely if it is long and complicated), and how did anybody think of the proof in the first place? These questions matter because if you can answer them then you understand the theorem in a completely different and much better way. I shall spend this talk attempting to demystify at least one theorem, and encouraging you to think in a similarly critical way about all the mathematics you learn.”
The talk will take place in the Adrian House Seminar Room, Trinity College, at 8.30pm., (with port and orange juice served from 8.15pm.). A group will leave from Great Gate, Trinity College, at 7.55pm. prompt (so meet there if you want someone to show you the way!).
A variety of textbooks are available at not-too-budget-straining prices; for which there exists an online catalogue. Past and present issues of Eureka are also awaiting good homes to go to.
STOP PRESS! The bookshop is offering amazing sale prices on a range of outstanding items (mainly books, apparently) in its bargain basement.
“Why did Beckham choose the number 23 shirt? How is 17 the key to the evolutionary survival of a strange species of cicada? Prime numbers are the atoms of arithmetic – the hydrogen and oxygen of the world of numbers. Despite their fundamental importance to mathematics, they represent one of the most tantalising enigmas in the pursuit of human knowledge. In 1859,the German mathematician Bernhard Riemann put forward an idea – a hypothesis – that seemed to reveal a magical harmony at work in the numerical landscape. A million dollars now awaits the person who can unravel the mystery of the hidden music that might explain the cacophony of the primes.”
The PGR goes from strength to strength, and looks forward to the enjoyment of even more exciting games. Contact the Ringmaster for more details.
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