In a field known for abstract theories and technical rigor, University professor Gestur Olafsson wants everyone to know math is beautiful.
He and the University’s chapter of Vertical Integration of Research and Education (VIGRE), for which he serves as project director, brought Satyan Devadoss, a mathematics professor at Williams College, to campus for a two-day colloquium on finding creative solutions to nature’s most complex and elegant puzzles.
“Nature poses many interesting and complicated questions that mathematicians set out to solve,” Olafsson said.
Devadoss led two discussions during his visit to the University. On Wednesday, he used a variety of three-dimensional puzzles, including various models of cannonballs, to show undergraduate students how to pack space efficiently.
“Math is really about playing with toys and using them to solve big, beautiful questions,” Devadoss said.
On Thursday, Devadoss used a collection of bright and colorful images and devices to welcome graduate students to the world of particle collisions. Devadoss said many of nature’s most beautiful features are formed by novel particle interactions. These formations, which include smoke trails and bee hives, have inspired the creation of many man-made inventions that define the modern age.
“DNA sequencing, origami, cardiograms and especially robotics — all of these things are rooted in the patterns of nature,” Devadoss said.
Although Devadoss lectured at the colloquiums, he also encouraged his audience to participate in the discussions and to attempt to solve some of the puzzles he presented.
Mark Davidson, the colloquium committee’s faculty advisor, said VIGRE routinely invites guest speakers to the University to show undergraduate students the practical results their educations can yield. The guests are selected by a panel of graduate and undergraduate students who work to make all participants feel more comfortable about interacting with prominent figures in mathematics.
“We want to show students what’s going on in the world of math and how they can be a part of it,” Davidson said.
Guests are selected based on the breadth of research they conduct and how well their research will engage their largely student audiences. Devadoss was selected for his enormous body of research and his innovative philosophy on math and science.
“Shakespeare’s known for his poetry, and Picasso’s known for his paintings — we need mathematicians to be known for their art too,” Devadoss said.
Devadoss conducts much of his research on computational geometry. He studies the math of physical objects. He has used his research to create new ways of visualizing data, describing and finding new species, making DNA easier to study and crafting origami. He has lectured painters, programmers and Pixar animators, and he wants to bridge the gaps between art and science and undergraduates and professionals.
“I want people to know about the big, important ideas in math, and I think that’s what a lot of students get out of these talks,” Devadoss said.
“Math is really about playing with toys and using them to solve big, beautiful questions.”