Oxford Mathematician Ian Griffiths has won a Vice Chancellor's Innovation Award for his work on mitigation of arsenic poisoning. This work is in collaboration with his postdoctoral research associates Sourav Mondal and Raka Mondal, and collaborators Professor Sirshendu De and Krishnasri Venkata at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
How did Chinese deal with a scientific problem: Building the solar eclipse theory in ancient China (the 7th-10th century AD)
Abstract
In the 6th century, the phenomena of irregularity of the solar motion and parallax of the moon were found by Chinese astronomers. This made the calculation of solar eclipse much more complex than before. The strategy that Chinese calendar-makers dealt with was different from the geometrical model system like Greek astronomers taken as. What Chinese astronomers chose is a numerical algorithm system which was widely taken as a thinking mode to construct the theory of mathematical astronomy in old China.
William Burnside and the Mystery Letter
Abstract
Relatively little is known about the correspondence of William Burnside, a pioneer of group theory in the UK. There are only a few dozen extant letters from or to him, though they are not without interest. However, one of the most noteworthy letters to or at least about him, in that it had a special mention in his obituary in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, has not been positively identified. It's not clear who it was from or when it was sent. We'll look at some possibilities.