Archive for 2005

What is the First Video Game?

In their basic level, video games are comprised of math to drive the display of every image and interaction. This is true from today’s 3D polygon-rich games as well as ones as simple as a ball bouncing off a paddle. As someone who has grown up with the rise & fall of the “video game […]

Missing Square Puzzles

If you’ve seen these before it may be old news, but I only just stumbled across the seeming impossibility of two identical sets of shapes having a different combined area. Click here to view a particularly amazing Missing Square Puzzle (aka “Curry’s Paradox”). Why does #5 fit on the top configuration but not the bottom? […]

Gusties Compete in Team Math Contest

On Saturday, November 12, 12 Gustavus students (Peter Overholser, Noah Mirovsky, Eric Overstad, Jonathan Dexter, Anna Lindquist, Jared Walz, Michael Bologna, Eric Barnitt, Dan Johnson, Mitch Engel, Guy Davis and Eva Cornell) competed in teams of three in the ninth annual MAA North Central Section Team Contest. Both MCS and Physics majors were well represented […]

Gusties Compete in Programming Contest

On Saturday, November 5, Gustavus students Justin Delegard, Dan Treiman, and Alex Wauck competed in the ACM North Central North America Regional Programming Contest. The regional contest spans seven US states and one and a half Canadian provinces, and this year included 186 teams. Teams participate from local satellite sites; the Gustavus team was one […]

Turing’s Cathedral – A Visit to Google

A.I. may be the topic of many a sci-fi book/film/graphic novel. However, as many of you may already know, Alan Turing and some of his fellow early computer scientists put some serious philosophical and mathematical brain-power into working out how to invent intelligence through technology, and just what sorts of tests would be needed to […]

Math Teaching: What’s the Real World Like?

A discussion with alumni about teaching positions Godfather’s Pizza, back room, 5:30pm, November 18, 2005 Pizza and soft drinks will be served This event is for students interested in teaching mathematics in secondary schools. Math majors ranging from the class of 1999 to the class of 2005 will come back to talk about their varied […]

Alumni Roundup

Here is a sampling of what various graduates of our department are up to.

Math Careers: What’s the “Real World” Like?

A discussion with recent grads about employment Godfather’s Pizza, back room, 6:15pm, November 10, 2005 Pizza and soft drinks will be served This event is for math majors interested in careers outside of the computing and teaching areas; other events are adressing those two areas. Math majors who graduated over the last handful of years […]

Computing Careers: What’s the “Real World” Like?

A discussion with recent grads about employment Godfather’s Pizza, back room, 6:15pm, October 18, 2005 Pizza and soft drinks will be served This event is for students interested in computing careers, whether they are majoring in computer science or in math. MCS majors who graduated over the last handful of years will come back to […]

See and learn about IT in the real world

We’ve got a great opportunity to see how information technology is deployed on a large scale, and to learn about it from Gustie alumni among others. On Wednesday, October 12th, I have arranged for a bus trip up to Thomson Legal and Regulatory (TLR) in Eagan, a southern suburb of the twin cities. We will […]