MAV logo THE MATHEMATICAL
ASSOCIATION OF VICTORIA

National Science Week

 

MATHEMAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR 2008

PORTLAND, WARRNAMBOOL & HAMILTON

Burkard Polster will welcome visiting students from the surrounding schools by astounding all with some real magic. He will also let his audience in on the secrets behind some of the most ancient and perplexing magic tricks and miracles – with plenty of mathematics as part of the deal to stretch young minds.

Friday 22nd August
  St Johns Lutheran Primary School,
Portland, 10:00 am
Mathematics, Magic and Miracles
  Deakin University,
Warrnambool, 2:00 pm		 Mathematics, Magic and Miracles
  Sassi's at Central Court,
581 Raglan Parade,
Warrnambool, 6:00 pm		 Pulp Fractions
Saturday 23rd August
  Baimbridge College,
Hamilton, 10:00 am		 Mathematics, Magic and Miracles
  Baimbridge College,
Hamilton, 1:00 pm		 The Da Vinci Code and Other Nonsense
  Commercial Hotel,
Hamilton, 6:00 pm,		 Pulp Fractions
Sunday 24th August
  Baimbridge College,
Hamilton, 10:00 am		 The Joy of Gambling
  Deakin University
Warrnambool, 2:00 pm		 How to Cheat Like a Mathematician: A History
     

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I wish to register for the following free Mathemagical Mystery Tour 2008 events.

The Da Vinci Code and Other Nonsense

Mathematics occasionally makes its way into popular culture, usually in a manner which is clumsy, cliched, or just plain silly. Sadly, the blockbuster The Da Vinci Code offers no exception. We shall examine the mathematics in The Da Vinci Code, and in other popular novels and movies. We shall consider why the writers are so careless, and how they get away with it.

Baimbridge College, Hamilton, 1:00pm, Saturday 23rd August
Number of tickets required

The Joy of Gambling

Casinos are commonly viewed as evil institutions, existing only to rip people off. We'll show that they are in fact run by benevolent folk, who are always looking for new schemes to give away money.

Baimbridge College, Hamilton, 10:00am, Sunday 24th August
Number of tickets required

How to Cheat Like a Mathematician: A History

What is the key to success in mathematics? Cheating! When confronted with an unsolvable problem, mathematicians have simply change the rules, and "solved" the problem according to their new rules. Amazingly, this underhanded technique has proved to be incredibly successful, not just for the sneaky mathematicians, but for mathematics itself.

Deakin University, Warrnambool, 2:00pm, Sunday 24th August
Number of tickets required

Mathematics, Magic and Miracles

Come and let Victoria's favourite MatheMagician entertain and amaze you with some real magic. He will also let you in on the secrets behind some of the most ancient and perplexing magic tricks and miracles.


St Johns Lutheran Primary School, Portland , 10:00 am, Friday 22nd August
Number of tickets required

Deakin University, Warrnambool, 2:00 pm, Friday 22nd August
Number of tickets required

Baimbridge College, Hamilton, 10:00 am, Saturday 23rd August
Number of tickets required

Pulp Fractions

What happens when popular culture gets hold of mathematics? How are mathematicians and mathematics represented? Like a good Tarantino movie, it is not pretty but it is captivating, with the body of logic lying
battered and bloodied on the floor. Come along and let Burkard Polster and Marty Ross take you on a tour of mathematics as it appears to the world at large. Come hear of murderous mathematicians, and mathematics murdered. You'll laugh! You'll cry! You'll cry a lot!

Sassi’s, Central Court, Warrnambool, 6:00 pm, Friday 22nd August
Number of tickets required

Commercial Hotel, Hamilton, 6:00 pm, Saturday 23rd August
Number of tickets required


About the Lecturer:

Dr Burkard Polster entertains and educates budding and experienced mathematicians alike with an exciting mixture of fun, information and, above all, ideas.

"These really are world class public lectures. And to make them work for such a diverse audience is a splendid achievement."
Dr Max Stephens, MAV Life Member.


Burkard Polster received his PhD in Pure Mathematics from the University of Erlangen in Germany in 1993, studied and worked at eight universities in Germany, America, New Zealand and Australia and specializes in “fun” mathematics. He is the author of numerous research articles and books, such as “The mathematics of Juggling” and “Q.E.D: Beauty in Mathematical Proof”. Currently, Burkard is a Senior Logan Research Fellow, and Monash University's resident mathematical juggler, origami expert, bubble-master, shoelace charmer, and Count Count impersonator. When he is not doing fun mathematics he has fun investigating perfect mathematical universes.

Read what Burkard Polster, and fellow presenter Marty Ross, lectured about in 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004.

 

For details of MAV's professional development activities, please go to http://www.mav.vic.edu.au/activities/.

 

For more information contact: Simon Pryor
Cliveden, 61 Blyth Street, Brunswick, Victoria 3056      Email: office@mav.vic.edu.au       Phone: 03 9380 2399      Fax: 03 9389 0399