Thursday, January 9, 2014

Math on the Rocks

I'm giving a talk next week in Baltimore.

The occasion is an evening reception sponsored by the Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences, which is being held during the annual joint meeting of US mathematical societies - the biggest regularly scheduled math conference in the USA (maybe the world?).

It will be a short presentation called Math on the Rocks.  I'll talk about mathematics and climbing, and my perception of overlaps, connections and creative tensions between them.  If I manage to hit an environmental theme too, that will be pretty much the whole of this blog compressed into one half-hour talk!

If you'll be in Baltimore, you're welcome to come to the event!  There's an informal reception (with refreshments) at 5:30 on January 16th in the East/West Ballrooms of the Marriott Baltimore Inner Harbor Hotel, followed by my talk at 6:30.  After the talk, there's an opportunity for dinner: we have reserved tables of 8 at ten local restaurants, and you can arrange during the reception which group you would like to be in.

A very funny presentation of the connections between math and climbing is the article: Adams, Colin. “Into Thin Air.” Mathematical Intelligencer 22, no. 1 (2000): 21–22. I'm thinking I might start by quoting some of that article...