Image of calculations on paper

News & Events

Pi Club Events

  • End of Semester picnic: 4:30 Friday May 9, Pavilion near Walb. RSVP in KT 200 by Wednesday.
  • Prof. Michael Bolt, Calvin College, The mathematics of Escher's "Print Gallery" April 30, 2008.
    • One of Escher's more compelling works is "Print Gallery" in which a young man stands in an art gallery, viewing a print that contains the very gallery in which he is standing. At the center is a curious hole, blank except for the artist's signature. In 2000, Hendrik Lenstra discovered the mathematical structure behind "Print Gallery" and showed there is a unique solution for what belongs in the hole. In this talk, we'll see how a team of scientists filled in the hole and generated a number of images and animations that illustrate other versions of the picture. Along the way, we'll introduce all the complex analysis that is needed to generate images like Escher's. The mathematics should be understandable to anyone with a year of calculus.
    • click for larger Escher picture
  • Student Talks: L. Hicks, R. Lucas, N. Pham, D. Swartz. April 9.
  • Prof. Don Hooley, Bluffton University, Searching for Solutions in a Trans-Elliptic Haystack, Feb 22.
    • Abstract: Linear and quadratic Diophantine equations will be introduced through settings involving beetles, spiders, and medieval warriors. After providing some background, we will define trans-elliptic Diophantine equations and being exploring a particular Picard curve and a specific case of Wolfram's Challenge Equation. No prior knowledge of these interesting mathematical objects will be assumed.
  • Chili supper March 7 at 5:30, prior to Men's Volleyball vs. Ball State at 7.
  • Sloppy joe dinner and IFPW Women's Basketball game - Wednesday, Nov. 28
  • Movie presentation: Flatland - Feb. 11.
  • Welcome Back Picnic - Monday, Sept. 10.
  • PI Book Sale: Sept. 18 and 19, 2007.
  • A Survey of Projective Geometry, a talk by Prof. Coffman. Friday, September 28.
    • Abstract: Dr. Coffman will demonstrate some theorems about points, lines, and planes that you might not have seen in high school geometry but that have interesting real-world applications. No college math background is required.
  • Daniel Rockmore, Dartmouth College: The College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Lecture, on Stalking the Riemann Hypothesis. Monday, October 15. Photos from this event
  • Dr. Rockmore is also presenting a video, "The Math Life", Monday, Oct. 15.
  • End-of-Semester Party: Friday, December 14.