The Birth of Mathematics

[George Duncan-2]

I will be giving a three-session course entitled The Birth of Mathematics at Renesan in March. The catalog blurb appears below. Renesan is billed as an Institute for Lifelong Learning and for many years has offered a range of courses and lectures in a variety of fields including Art, Current Events, History, Literature, Music, Performing Arts, Philosophy, Political Science, and, yes indeed, Mathematics. Classes are held in Santa Fe at St. John’s United Methodist Church, 1200 Old Pecos Trail. The modest fee is $15 per session. More information and registration details are available at www.renesan.org. I'd be happy to have FRIAM folk participate!

MATHEMATICS: S19-01 The Birth of Mathematics

Instructor:     George Duncan

Dates: Thursday, Mar 14, 21, and 28 at3:15-5:15pm.

3 sessions

Mathematics began tens of thousands of years ago. People energized by both creative spirit and practical need started to figure with numbers and diagrams, counting (sheep) and drawing plot plans (temples). Highlighted in this course are key developments in the early history of mathematics, examining its roots in both number and shape. Requiring no background in mathematics, it emphasizes nine breakthrough contributions beginning with simple counting to nine and moving on to larger counts (even beyond a million), to numbers like π that do count but are not counts, to algebra which plays with symbols, to geometry that explores shapes. erstanding the origins of mathematics gives us confidence that we can grasp the foundations of the “Queen of the Sciences”. The mathematical concepts are illustrated with original art work by the instructor.

George Duncan is an artist and a mathematician. He is Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Carnegie Mellon University. His art work has been shown at Vivo Contemporary on Canyon Road. It appears in public collections at several universities and in private collections throughout the US as well as England and Spain. He earned BS and MS degrees at the University of Chicago and a PhD at the University of Minnesota. He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Museums of New Mexico Foundation and is a Lead Trustee for the Museum of Art.

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