Madison Math Circle
What is it?
The UW-Madison math department organizes a series of talks aimed at interested middle school and high school students throughout the semester. Our goal is to present fun talks that give students a taste of interesting ideas in math and science. In the past we've had talks about plasma and weather in outer space, the way images are shaded in video games, and how credit card numbers are securely transmitted over the internet.
After each talk we'll have snacks provided by the Mathematics Department, and students will have an opportunity to mingle and chat with the speaker and with other participants, to ask questions about some of the topics that have been discussed, and also about college, careers in science, etc.
The Madison Math circle was featured in Wisconsin State Journal: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/school-spotlight-madison-math-circle-gives-young-students-a-taste/article_77f5c042-0b3d-11e1-ba5f-001cc4c03286.html
Alright, I want to come!
Great!
Sign up for our email list: https://lists.math.wisc.edu/listinfo/math-circle
If you are a student, we hope you will tell other interested students about these talks, and speak with your parents or with your teacher about organizing a car pool to the UW campus (and tell us how many people are coming so we can purchase the appropriate amount of pizza!)
If you are a parent or a teacher, we hope you'll tell your students about these talks and organize a car pool to the UW (all talks take place in Ingraham Hall room 120, on the UW-Madison campus).
Parking. Parking on campus is rather limited. Here is as list of some options:
- Directly in front of Ingraham hall, 2 metered spots (25 minute max) in Lot 11 off of Observatory Drive.
- A 0.2 mile walk to Ingraham Hall via these directions, many spots (free starting 4:30pm) in Lot 26 along Observatory Drive.
- A 0.3 mile walk to Ingraham Hall via these directions, many spots (free starting 4:30pm) in Lot 34.
- A 0.2 mile walk to Ingraham Hall via these directions, 2 metered spots (25 minute max) in front of Lathrop Hall.
- A 0.3 mile walk to Ingraham Hall via these directions 6 metered spots (25 minute max) around the loop in front of Chadbourne Hall .
- For more information, see the UW-Madison Parking Info website.
Questions?
If you have any questions, suggestions for topics, or so on, just email the organizers (Lalit Jain, Dan Erman, Gheorghe Craciun, and Philip Matchett Wood): math-circle-organizers@math.wisc.edu.
Math Circle Meetings for Spring 2014
All talks are at 6pm in Ingraham Hall room 120, unless otherwise noted.
| Date and RSVP links | Speaker | Topic (click for more info) |
|---|---|---|
| January 27, 2014 | Cancelled for weather | |
| February 3, 2014 | Daniel Ross | Encryption |
| February 10, 2014 | Betsy Stovall | Geometric addition |
| February 17, 2014 | Mimansa Vahia | Origami and Mathematics |
| February 24, 2014 | Philip Matchett Wood | Mathematics of Graphs---how a picture solves the problem |
| March 3, 2014 | Matthew Johnston | TBA |
| March 10, 2014 | Jordan Ellenberg | Why the card game Set should actually be called Line, and other comments on finite geometry |
| March 17, 2014 | NO MEETING | UW Spring Break |
| April 7, 2014 | Shamgar Gurevich | Symmetries of Platonic Solids |
| April 14, 2014 | NO MEETING | MMSD Spring Break |
Abstracts
Betsy Stoval
Geometric Addition
Abstract: We will learn some neat geometric tricks for quickly and painlessly computing some surprisingly large sums.
Philip Matchett Wood
Mathematics of Graphs---how a picture solves the problem
Abstract: Life is full of questions, and sometimes, drawing a picture is the best way to think about things. We will discuss one of the simplest pictures---a mathematical graph---and show how it is useful in many surprising ways!