Brown Bag Teaching/Learning Seminar #2&3
Pi is wrong , and a visit from Engineering
On the theory that opportunism beats out organization I abandoned my intended format of scheduling Brown Bags in all of the even weeks of the quarter. In recompense, I am announcing two at once, thereby giving an impression (I hope) of great efficiency.
This Thursday, October 26, our guest will be Bob Palais from the University of Utah. He will launch the discussion with a casual version of the following talk:
`Pi is Wrong'
`Using rotations to motivate, unify, and understand complex numbers'
Abstract:
In this talk we will discuss alternate approaches to presenting several fundamental concepts in the undergraduate math curriculum, with an emphasis on the potential pitfalls of language, notation, and overall organization. Some topics include trigonometric addition formulas, the geometric interpretation of complex multiplication and the dot product, orthogonalization of vectors, and some differential and integral calculus."
Then on Thursday, November 2, we will have as guests Marc Eberhard from our own Civil Engineering department and (we hope) one of his colleagues.
Both Brown Bags will happen at 12:30 in the Math Lounge. Come and join the conversation!
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