Archive for October, 2011
Explorations in generative design
Nervous System is a fantastic experimental design studio unlike most others. They use new technologies to reinterpret natural phenomena, prototyping and mass-producing 3d objects such as light fixtures, jewelry and sculpture from mathematical processes. Most of their designs look as if they were copied from a biology book because, in a way, they were. Various […]
Weighted Graphs, Groups, and 2-Dimensional Topology
When: November 2, 2011, 11:30am-12:30pm Where: Olin Hall, Room 320 Presenter: Prof. Mat Timm of Bradley University A graph is collection of dots, called vertices, with some pairs of vertices joined together by line segments, called edges. A graph is a weighted graph when each end of each edge is labeled with an integer. Each […]
Musings on John McCarthy’s Death
Although John McCarthy died only two days ago, enough words have already been written to render any more superfluous. Yet I can’t resist some personal musings. The very name of this blog, MCS, is a good starting point: the blog of a department of “Mathematics and Computer Science.” Often I’ve been asked why computer science […]
What Elections are Worth Recounting?
When: Wednesday, October 19, 11:30am – 12:20pm Where: Olin Hall 320 Presenter: Max Hailperin Minnesota law provides for publicly-funded recounts of close elections. This raises the question of what exactly constitutes a “close election.” Is the current standard appropriate? Two recent high-profile statewide recounts have drawn considerable attention to this question, though in fact multiple […]
Fractals and Chaos in a Simple Forced Oscillator
When: Thursday, October 13, 4:30pm – 5:20pm Where: Olin Hall 320 Presenter: Jim Walsh, Professor of Mathematics, Oberlin College In this talk the dynamics of a simple model of three charged bodies interacting under an inverse square electrostatic force is presented. Professor Walsh will illustrate the manner in which fractals and chaos arise in the […]