What's the use of Maths? Wednesday April 26th 2000, 7:00-9:00pm Harlequin Inn, Harris Street, Pyrmont, Sydney Dr Clio Cresswell and Professor Jason Middleton, University of New South Wales Hosted by your favourite presenter, Paul Willis! Science in the Pub tackles the venerable subject of Mathematics. Our two speakers, from the School of Mathematics at the University of New South Wales, discuss the use, and abuse, of mathematics in society. Is Maths the Queen of the the Sciences? Or is it simply a tool of the trade? Is it indispensable or can we live quite happily without knowing anything about it? Clio Cresswell lectures in mathematics at the University of New South Wales where she is a Visiting Fellow. She has just begun a weekly science news segment on Triple M Melbourne's Crud Show called 'Ask Dr stupid' (the things we do for science!) and writes a regular feature article for the new science magazine Newton - a publication of Australian Geographic (first issue out in August, so look out!). Clio grew up in Cannes in the South of France amongst millions of retirees and the odd superstar. She claims that her sigh of relief when she moved to Australia at the age of 18 'could be heard from Sydney to Wangaratta'. That was when she discovered mathematics after having studied pottery for years. Clio subsequently studied every maths course at university and even experienced life as an actuary but returned to university to do a PhD. Her research area involves mathematical formulae that describe motion through time and connections between differing concepts of time. These connections have applications in fields as diverse as quantum mechanics, fibre optics and computer technology. Clio believes that mathematics is a spiritual experience that requires no real-world applications to be appreciated or studied. Jason Middleton is Head of the Department of Aviation at UNSW. He is a mathematician, having studied applied mathematics at Monash University, where he specialised on modelling meteorological and oceanographical circulation processes. He then undertook a PhD in modelling of buoyant flows concurrently with training as a commercial pilot and working part-time as a charter pilot. A move to Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California followed and provided an opportunity to measure and model the circulation of Antarctic Oceans. Returning to Australia four years later, Jason began a program in coastal circulation research, using measurement and modelling techniques, and have subsequently continued studies from Antarctica to the Great Barrier Reef and off Sydney. More recently, his work has included aviation meteorology as a research interest, and he has spent time measuring and modelling flows in the Sydney area using data from a research aircraft. Jason has always used mathematics as a fundamental tool in the development of understanding of the processes which control circulation in our natural environments of the ocean and atmosphere.   True to her calling, to Clio mathematics is poetry, and so here we have a little piece of poetic mathematics! Hyperspheres - Hypercubes 4 circles of radius 1 fit within a square that is 4 x 4 8 spheres of radius 1 fit within a box that is 4 x 4 x 4 16 4-dimensional spheres of radius 1 fit within a 4-dimensional cube that is 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 So, 2 x 2 circles in a 2-dimensional square 2 x 2 x 2 spheres in a 3-dimensional cube and 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 4-dimensional spheres in a 4-dimensional cube Obviously, 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 9-dimensional spheres of radius 1 fit within a 9-dimensional cube that is 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 Or, 2n n-dimensional spheres of radius 1 fit within an n-dimensional cube. 'Science in the Pub' (TM) is an initiative of the Australian Science Communicators (NSW) and supported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It is normally staged from 7.00-9.00 pm on the last Wednesday of even months (Feb - Oct) at the Harlequin Inn (formerly known as the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel), 152 Harris Street, Pyrmont, 2009 in Sydney (Telephone (02) 9660 8146. UBD Map ref pg235 P10.). Dinner is available from the Gong Thai restaurant attached to the pub. Parking is difficult - best at the Casino ($10, 6pm to midnight). Admission costs $5 worth of raffle tickets, your chance to win one of our many excellent prizes! We can organise Science in YOUR Pub anywhere in Australia, or the world! For further information on 'Science in the Pub' please contact Robyn Stutchbury on mailto:rstutch@bigpond.net.auof Peripatus Productions Pty Limited, 1 Carisbrook Street, Lane Cove 2066, Tel: 02 9427 6747, Fax: 02 9418 9605. For more information visit our website at: http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~mgb/SciPub/scipub.html. Future Science in the Pub sessions (see the website for full details): 30 April, Canberra, ACT. 'Is DNA testing a new crime-fighting tool or an invasion of privacy?' 3 May, Melbourne, during Science Now, featuring Paul Davies and the Hencoups. 'Life OFF Earth: are we alone?' 5-12 May, Science in the Pub goes Outback 5 May, Silverton Pub, Broken Hill. `Life, the Universe and Everything'. 6, May, Birdsville Pub, Birdsville. `Land use in the Eyre basin'. 8, May, Longreach. `Land use in the Eyre basin'. 10, May, Charleville. `Life, the Universe and Everything'. 11, May, Bourke. `Water use in the Murray-Darling basin'. 10 May, Harlequin Inn, Sydney. 'Parascience'. Hosted by the science communicators from 2SER FM. 18 May Sydney. With author and cryptologist Norman Singh, author of "Fermat's Last Theorem". Sponsored by the British Council. 19 May Brisbane, `Innovation.com or Innovation.con?'. To be held at the Carlton Crest Hotel, Brisbane at 4:30-6:00pm. For further information contact Elizabeth Elenius . 28 June, Harlequin Inn, Sydney. 'Cheats or Champs - the use of drugs in sport', for Chemistry Week.
Science in the Pub™, © 2000. Stutchbury, R, Burton, M.