Former Oxford Mathematician Jochen Kursawe, now in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, has been awarded the Reinhart Heinrich Prize for his thesis on quantitative approaches to investigating epithelial morphogenesis. Jochen worked with Oxford Mathematician Ruth Baker and former Oxford colleague Alex Fletcher, now in the University of Sheffield, on the research.
The Reinhart Heinrich Prize is awarded annually by the European Society for Mathematical and Theoretical Biology(ESMTB).
Our latest book features the remarkable story of Ada Lovelace, often considered the world’s first computer programmer, as told in a new book co-written by Oxford Mathematicians Christopher Hollings and Ursula Martin together with colleague Adrian Rice from Randolph-Macon College.
A sheet of apparent doodles of dots and lines lay unrecognised in the Bodleian Library until Ursula Martin spotted what it was - a conversation between Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage about finding patterns in networks, a very early forerunner of the sophisticated computer techniques used today by the likes of Google and Facebook. It is just one of the remarkable mathematical images to be found in the new book, 'Ada Lovelace: The Making of a Computer Scientist'.
Ada, Countess of Lovelace (1815–1852) was the daughter of poet Lord Byron and his highly educated wife, Anne Isabella. Active in Victorian London's social and scientific elite alongside Mary Somerville, Michael Faraday and Charles Dickens, Ada Lovelace became fascinated by the computing machines devised by Charles Babbage. A table of mathematical formulae sometimes called the ‘first programme’ occurs in her 1843 paper about his most ambitious invention, his unbuilt ‘Analytical Engine.’
Ada Lovelace had no access to formal school or university education but studied science and mathematics from a young age. This book uses previously unpublished archival material to explore her precocious childhood: her ideas for a steam-powered flying horse, pages from her mathematical notebooks, and penetrating questions about the science of rainbows. A remarkable correspondence course with the eminent mathematician Augustus De Morgan shows her developing into a gifted, perceptive and knowledgeable mathematician, not afraid to challenge her teacher over controversial ideas.
“Lovelace’s far sighted remarks about whether the machine might think, or compose music, still resonate today,” said Professor Martin. “This book shows how Ada Lovelace, with astonishing prescience, learned the maths she needed to understand the principles behind modern computing.”
Ada Lovelace: The Making of a Computer Scientist, by Christopher Hollings, Ursula Martin and Adrian Rice will be launched on 16th April 2018 by Bodleian Library Publishing, in partnership with the Clay Mathematics Institute.
The page of doodles is on display until February 2019 as part of the Bodleian Library’s exhibition 'Sappho to Suffrage: women who dared.'
Bringing together talks, workshops, hands-on activities and walking tours, the Oxford Maths Festival is an extravaganza of all the wonderful curiosities mathematics holds. Board games, sport, risk and the wisdom of crowds courtesy of Marcus du Sautoy are all on the menu.
Over two days you can immerse yourself in a wide range of events, with something for everyone, no matter what your age or prior mathematical experience.
All events are free to attend. Some require pre-booking. For the entire programme, please click here.
Oxford Mathematicians Alain Goriely and Mike Giles have been made Fellows of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). Alain is recognised for his "contributions to nonlinear elasticity and theories of biological growth" while Mike receives his Fellowship for his "contributions to numerical analysis and scientific computing, particularly concerning adjoint methods, stochastic simulation, and Multilevel Monte Carlo."
Alain is Professor of Mathematical Modelling in the University of Oxford where he is Director of the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (OCIAM) and Co-Director of the International Brain Mechanics and Trauma Lab (IBMTL). He is an applied mathematician with broad interests in mathematics, mechanics, sciences, and engineering. His current research also include the modelling of new photovoltaic devices, the modelling of cancer and the mechanics of the human brain. He is author of the recently published Applied Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction. Alain is also the founder of the successful Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture series. You can watch his recent Public Lecture, 'Can Mathematics Understand the Brain' here.
Mike is Professor of Scientific Computing in the University of Oxford. After working at MIT and the Oxford University Computing Laboratory on computational fluid dynamics applied to the analysis and design of gas turbines, he moved into computational finance and research on Monte Carlo methods for a variety of applications. His research focuses on improving the accuracy, efficiency and analysis of Monte Carlo methods. He is also interested in various aspects of scientific computing, including high performance parallel computing and has been working on the exploitation of GPUs (graphics processors) for a variety of financial, scientific and engineering applications.
Oxford Mathematician John Ball has won the European Academy of Sciences Leonardo da Vinci award. The award is given annually for outstanding lifetime scientific achievement. In the words of the Committee, "through a research career spanning more than 45 years, Professor Ball has made groundbreaking and highly significant contributions to the mathematical theory of elasticity, the calculus of variations, and the mathematical analysis of infinite-dimensional dynamical systems."
Sir John Ball FRS is Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Oxford and Director of the Oxford Centre for Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations. He is a Fellow of The Queen's College.
The Oxford Summer School on Economic Networks, hosted by Oxford Mathematics and the Institute of New Economic Thinking, aims to bring together graduate students from a range of disciplines (maths, statistics, economics, policy, geography, development, ..) to learn about the techniques, applications and impact of network theory in economics and development.
We look forward to welcoming a large number of world renowned experts in economic networks and complexity science. Confirmed speakers for the 2018 edition include Fernando Vega-Redondo, Mihaela van der Schaar, Rama Cont, Doyne Farmer, Pete Grindrod, Renaud Lambiotte, Elsa Arcaute and Taha Yasseri. Tutorials and lectures include social networks, games and learning, financial networks, economic complexity and urban systems.
Alongside a rigorous academic schedule, the summer school also includes a walking tour of the historic university and city centre, a punting trip on the river Cherwell and a dinner in one of Oxford's historic colleges.
The deadline for applications is March 15th - more information is available here. Please contact us at @email with any questions.
'Euler's Pioneering Equation' has been compared to a Shakespearean Sonnet. But even if you don't buy that, Robin Wilson's book does much to show how an 18th century Swiss mathematician managed to bring together the five key constants in the subject: the number 1, the basis of our counting system; the concept of zero, which was a major development in mathematics, and opened up the idea of negative numbers; π an irrational number, the basis for the measurement of circles; the exponential e, associated with exponential growth and logarithms; and the imaginary number i, the square root of -1, the basis of complex numbers. Some achievement.
We are always being told that mathematics impacts every corner of our lives - our security, our climate, even our very selves. Want a quick summary of how? Alain Goriely's Applied Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction does just that, laying out the basics of the subject and exploring its range and potential. If you want to know how cooking a turkey and medical imaging are best explained by mathematics (or even if you don't) this is an excellent read.
By contrast Yves Capdeboscq together with colleague Giovanni S. Alberti from Genoa has published 'Lectures on Elliptic Methods For Hybrid Inverse Problems based on a series of 2014 lectures. Targeting the Graduate audience, this work tackles one of the most important aspects of the mathematical sciences: the Inverse Problem. In the words of the authors "Inverse problems correspond to the opposite (of a direct problem), namely to find the cause which generated the observed, measured result."
Click here for our last literary selection including Prime Numbers, Networks and Russian Mathematicians.
Oxford Mathematician Robin Wilson has been awarded the 2017 Stanton Medal. The medal is awarded every two years by the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications (ICA) for outreach activities in combinatorial mathematics.
In the words of the ICA citation, "Robin Wilson has, for fifty years, been an outstanding ambassador for graph theory to the general public. He has lectured widely (giving some 1500 public lectures), and extended the reach of his lectures through television, radio, and videotape. He has also published extensively on combinatorial ideas, written in a style that is engaging and accessible. He has provided direction, encouragement, and support to colleagues and students at all levels. His superb talents at conveying the beauty of graph-theoretic ideas, and inviting his readers and listeners to join in, have enthused many students, teachers, and researchers. Professor Wilson’s advocacy and outreach for combinatorics continue to yield many positive impacts that are enjoyed by researchers and non-specialists alike."
Robin Wilson is an Emeritus Professor of Pure Mathematics at the Open University, Emeritus Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London, and a former Fellow of Keble College, Oxford. He is the author of many books including 'Combinatorics: A Very Short Introduction', 'Four Colours Suffice: How the Map Problem Was Solved,' 'Lewis Carroll in Numberland: His Fantastical Mathematical Logical Life' and his textbook ‘Introduction to Graph Theory.’ His latest Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture on Euler's pioneering equation can be watched here.
We have two contrasting Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures coming up in the next ten days. One features a genius from the eighteenth century whose work is still pertinent today. The other is very much from the 21st century and illuminates the direction mathematics is currently travelling. Please email @email to register or follow our twitter account for details on how to watch live.
Euler’s pioneering equation: ‘the most beautiful theorem in mathematics’ - Robin Wilson. 28 February, 2018, 5-6pm
Can Mathematics Understand the Brain? - Alain Goriely, March 8th, 5.15-6.15pm
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Euler’s pioneering equation: ‘the most beautiful theorem in mathematics’ - Robin Wilson
Euler’s equation, the ‘most beautiful equation in mathematics’, startlingly connects the five most important constants in the subject: 1, 0, π, e and i. Central to both mathematics and physics, it has also featured in a criminal court case and on a postage stamp, and has appeared twice in The Simpsons. So what is this equation – and why is it pioneering?
Robin Wilson is an Emeritus Professor of Pure Mathematics at the Open University, Emeritus Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London, and a former Fellow of Keble College, Oxford.
28 February 2018, 5pm-6pm, Mathematical Institute, Oxford. Please email @email to register
Can Mathematics Understand the Brain? - Alain Goriely
The human brain is the object of the ultimate intellectual egocentrism. It is also a source of endless scientific problems and an organ of such complexity that it is not clear that a mathematical approach is even possible, despite many attempts.
In this talk Alain will use the brain to showcase how applied mathematics thrives on such challenges. Through mathematical modelling, we will see how we can gain insight into how the brain acquires its convoluted shape and what happens during trauma. We will also consider the dramatic but fascinating progression of neuro-degenerative diseases, and, eventually, hope to learn a bit about who we are before it is too late.
Alain Goriely is Professor of Mathematical Modelling, University of Oxford and author of 'Applied Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction.'
8 March, 5.15 pm-6.15pm, Mathematical Institute, Oxford. Please email @email to register
Prof. Ursula Martin and Dr Ian Griffiths have each been awarded an MPLS Impact Award for 2017-18. The MPLS (Mathematical, Physical, Engineering and Life Sciences Division at the University of Oxford) Impact Awards scheme aims to foster and raise awareness of impact by rewarding it at a local level.
Ursula's award is for Public Engagement in connection with the 2015 celebrations of the 200th anniversary of Ada Lovelace's birth. This included exhibits at many museums (including the National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park, the Science Museum and the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley) as well as an issue of a children's computing magazine developed in collaboration with QMUL (Queen Mary University of London) and distributed to UK schools to encourage programming.
Ian's award is for Non-Commercial Impact, and is in recognition of his work with researchers at IIT Kharagpur on the modelling and improvement of filters to remove arsenic from water supplies in India. This work is funded by GCRF (the UK Global Challenge Research Fund) and also supported by UNICEF which is now installing community-scale filters in India. Although it falls outside the definition of the category, Ian is also working with three companies (Dyson, Gore and Pall Corporation) to improve their filters for various purposes.
These awards, which include a £1000 payment, will be presented at the MPLS Winter Reception on February 6th.
