Irish Mensa Lecture and Discussion: The Maths of Board Games
- No group assigned
- May 20, 2024
Why are there chess Grandmasters, but not Grandmasters of noughts and crosses (otherwise known as tic-tac-toe)? It is because chess is "harder" – but what do we really mean by that? Answering that question leads us to develop the idea of mathematical complexity, which is a measure of how 'big' a game is. We'll look at the complexity of popular games, and ask: what is the hardest game of all time?
Our Speaker
Professor Sarah Hart is the first woman Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, and was appointed in 2020. She is Professor Emerita of Mathematics at Birkbeck, University of London.
She studied at Oxford and Manchester, gaining her PhD in 2000. Postdoctoral research and teaching followed, including a prestigious Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Fellowship, before she was appointed to a lectureship at Birkbeck in 2004. She became Professor of Mathematics there in 2013, and served in various management roles including as Head of Mathematics and Statistics, Assistant Dean, and Programme Director for the MSc Mathematics.
Her academic publications have been mainly in the area of pure mathematics known as group theory, which has many applications both inside and outside of mathematics, for example in coding theory and cryptography. She is actively involved in the British Society for the History of Mathematics, and has served a three-year term as President of the Society from 2021-2023.
Professor Hart is passionate about communicating mathematics and is a sought-after public speaker. She is particularly interested in the links between mathematics, culture and creativity: many of her public lectures and talks in schools relate to these topics. Her book Once Upon a Prime: the Wondrous Connections between Mathematics and Literature, was published in 2023, and has been positively reviewed in the press, including The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Economist, The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
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Each month we watch a pre-recorded lecture from Gresham College and then discuss the concepts raised. Gresham College has been providing free public lectures since 1597, when Sir Thomas Gresham's vision of a college to bring the 'new learning' to Londoners was realized. Today we carry on Sir Thomas's vision, bringing some of the world's most brilliant minds to speak in fields ranging across the arts and sciences.
This event will begin at 2 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. Central, 11 a.m. Pacific. To learn the time where you are, use WorldTimeBuddy: https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/
Registration rates are This event is free to attend for all members.;
To register, Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81817008066?pwd=a2w3cWhwTnhXODRYMndwdGRycFVuZz09
Meeting ID: 818 1700 8066
Passcode: 413076 For more information, contact Mary Reilly; mary@craftcottage.ie;
Our Speaker
Professor Sarah Hart is the first woman Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, and was appointed in 2020. She is Professor Emerita of Mathematics at Birkbeck, University of London.
She studied at Oxford and Manchester, gaining her PhD in 2000. Postdoctoral research and teaching followed, including a prestigious Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Fellowship, before she was appointed to a lectureship at Birkbeck in 2004. She became Professor of Mathematics there in 2013, and served in various management roles including as Head of Mathematics and Statistics, Assistant Dean, and Programme Director for the MSc Mathematics.
Her academic publications have been mainly in the area of pure mathematics known as group theory, which has many applications both inside and outside of mathematics, for example in coding theory and cryptography. She is actively involved in the British Society for the History of Mathematics, and has served a three-year term as President of the Society from 2021-2023.
Professor Hart is passionate about communicating mathematics and is a sought-after public speaker. She is particularly interested in the links between mathematics, culture and creativity: many of her public lectures and talks in schools relate to these topics. Her book Once Upon a Prime: the Wondrous Connections between Mathematics and Literature, was published in 2023, and has been positively reviewed in the press, including The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Economist, The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
----------------------
Each month we watch a pre-recorded lecture from Gresham College and then discuss the concepts raised. Gresham College has been providing free public lectures since 1597, when Sir Thomas Gresham's vision of a college to bring the 'new learning' to Londoners was realized. Today we carry on Sir Thomas's vision, bringing some of the world's most brilliant minds to speak in fields ranging across the arts and sciences.
This event will begin at 2 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. Central, 11 a.m. Pacific. To learn the time where you are, use WorldTimeBuddy: https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/
Registration rates are This event is free to attend for all members.;
To register, Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81817008066?pwd=a2w3cWhwTnhXODRYMndwdGRycFVuZz09
Meeting ID: 818 1700 8066
Passcode: 413076 For more information, contact Mary Reilly; mary@craftcottage.ie;