The Mathematical Calender - British Science Week

The Mathematical Calender:

British Science Week

For the fourth entry in my series I will talk about an annual science event held in the UK, British Science Week. I have taken a quote from the organising bodies website to start things off, and I will then follow up with some details.

British Science Week - 11-20 March

"British Science Week is an annual celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths. It is a ten-day programme of STEM events and activities across the UK for people of all ages" 

- https://www.britishscienceweek.org/thinking-about-organising-an-event-read-this/

Begun in 1994 with the aim of encouraging both professional and public engagement with the STEM disciplines, the BSW has only gone from strength to strength. Its run annually in mid march, and this years events will take place from 11-20 March. Last year the British Science Association recorded over 5000 individual events run across Britain, with over 1.5 million participants taking part.

As highlighted in the quote above, British Science Week (BSW) is 10 straight days of events devoted to the celebration and promotion of the STEM disciplines in the UK. Its core feature is that the activities are conceived and then run by members of the public, there is no set programme every year. Those wishing to run an event can register it with the organising body the BSA (British Science Association) who will then advertise the event on their website. They will also provide you with some handy tips on how to run or advertise your event effectively.

Schools, universities, charities, community groups, and both big and small companies, are just some of the people who run events aimed at engaging people of all ages. As there is no set topic or theme organisers are given free reign to present on whatever STEM related subjects they want, as such the events on offer each year are highly varied.

If you're interested in seeing what events are going to be run in your local area (if you live in the UK) then check out the link below! You can search for events by location or by subject matter:

https://www.britishscienceweek.org/

If you know of any events relating to mathematics then I'd love to know, it doesn't matter what county its in just let me know by leaving a comment!

The Mathematical Calender: Pi Day

The Mathematical Calender:

Pi Day

I am back with the third entry in my series. This time I refer not to an academic event but to a day that has been, very slowly, becoming more publicly recognised in recent years: Pi day, the 14th of March.

Pi Day: 14th March

Pi day celebrates the mathematical constant pi, 3.14159.... . As an irrational number its digits go on forever without repeating in any discernible pattern, and its significance comes from being the ratio of a circles circumference to its diameter. As such it appears throughout equations in mathematics and science whenever they involve circles, spheres, and by extension curves, in some fashion.

Pi day was first "officially" celebrated in 1988 by the Physicist Larry Shaw at the San Francisco Exploratorium. The day was celebrated by leading people around in circular patterns or circular rooms, and by eating fruit pies.

In the UK activities tend to be limited to schools, universities, and interest groups. However in the US, where the day is much more popular, some Museums will host events or promotions in recognition of the date.

Activities on Pi day tend to involve talks or presentations on the significance of the number with regards to mathematics and to day to day life, or otherwise they involve doing tasks that relate to the number itself, for example cycling or walking 3.14 miles on the day. The consumption of pies is another very popular custom on Pi day, and it is certainly one of the most easily enjoyable and accessible ways to recognise the date!

While attention to the day has slowly been growing in recent years, expect a lot more recognition of Pi day online and in the news than at a location in your local area, unless you happen to live in the US.

Extra:

The inspiration for a day dedicated to Pi came from America because, whereas in the UK the convention is to write the date as DD/MM/YYYY, in America the date is written in the format MM/DD/YYYY. As such March 14th in America is written 03/14, and as the first 3 digits of the number Pi are 3.14 the day became associated with Pi. This is why the idea of officially celebrating Pi originated in America, and this is why Pi day has become a much more popular event in the US, where the date was formally recognised as "National Pi Day" in 2009, than in the UK.

As a side note: the 14th March is also Einstein's birthday.

If you know of any events relating to mathematics then I'd love to know, it doesn't matter what county its in, just let me know by leaving a comment!

The Mathematical Calender: The Abel Prize

The Mathematical Calender:

The Abel Prize

Happy new year everyone! For my second post in this series I will talk briefly about the Abel prize that is awarded annually in May.

The Abel Prize

Established in 2003 and awarded annually the Abel Prize celebrates the great legacy of one the greatest Mathematicians Norway has ever produced, Niels Henrik Abel, who passed away in 1829 at the tender age of 26. The prize was set up with the goal of inspiring teaching and scientific effort while at the same time giving recognition to great mathematical work.

The Abel Prize itself is awarded by the Dutch Academy of Sciences and Letters by an appointed panel of 5 leading mathematicians who judge the nominations submitted for the prize. The deadline for nomination is in September and the prize winner is typically announced near the end of March. Interestingly the prize has to date been awarded in May by either the King or Crown Prince of Norway, and outside of international recognition for their work the winner also receives a cash prize of approximately 800,000 Euros.

The Abel Prize is seen today as one of the two most prestigious prizes awarded in mathematics alongside the Fields Medal despite having a short history!

External Links

For much more extensive information on the Abel Prize why not visit the awards official website.

http://www.abelprize.no/

You can also find videos of the 2015 award ceremony, as well as a video discussing the prize winners and their work, along the websites sidebar.

If you know of any events relating to mathematics then I'd love to know, it doesn't matter what county its in, just let me know by leaving a comment!

The Mathematical Calender: The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM)

The Mathematical Calender:

The International Congress of Mathematicians

For the first post in my series I thought I'd start off with some of the largest, most prestigious events on the mathematical calender. Thus my first post is not on the Fields Medal, but the event where the Medal is awarded, the International Congress of Mathematicians, the largest academic event in mathematics.

The International Congress of Mathematicians

The International Congress of Mathematicians (the ICM) is the largest mathematical conference in the world. First started in 1897 in Switzerland it has been held every four years since 1900. Countries bid for the opportunity to host the event and as such it has been hosted across Europe and North America. In recent years the event has been held outside of America, Canada, and the European block and was last held in Seoul, South Korea, in 2014. The next time it will be held, August 1st-9th 2018, will be in Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. 

The congress in Brazil in 2018 will attract and host thousands of Mathematicians from around the world, and will be the first time the ICM has ever been held in a Latin America country. As such, in addition to the traditional invited speakers, the event will also highlight the progress made in the Latin America region with regards to research and the building of public awareness around mathematics.

During the opening ceremony a series of medals and prizes are awarded to celebrate mathematical achievement of the highest level from over the past four years. These include: the Fields Medal, the Nevalinna Prize, the Gauss Prize, and the Chern Medal. Perhaps the most prestigious award in Mathematics, or at the very least the most widely known, of these is the Fields Medal which is often referred to as the Mathematicians Nobel Prize. This Medal can be awarded to up to four Mathematicians under the age of 40 in recognition of outstanding contribution/s to some field of Mathematics.

Due to its sheer size, its international gathering, prestigous awards, and a wide variety of top speakers on cutting-edge mathematics, the ICM is often regarded as the most important mathematical event in world mathematics.

If you know of any events relating to mathematics then I'd love to know, it doesn't matter what county its in, just let me know by leaving a comment!

The Mathematical Calender: A New Blog Series!

The Mathematical Calender: 

A New Blog Series!

As maths graduate who graduated over two years ago now I find that I never took the time to appreciate the background of the subject while I was actually studying it. In recent weeks I have begun reading about some of the history and philosophy behind the topic.

As part of this I felt that I could look into important or celebrated regular events, professional and vocational, that take place around the world that relate to mathematics specifically. I could then update this blog with the basic details: what happens, where, when, and why. The result would be that I would slowly assemble some sort of crude calender that covers mathematics around the world throughout the year, learning as I go.

I initially started this series on my main blog, wanderingandwondering.blogspot.com, but have decided that it would be better to set up a separate blog for posts relating to mathematics, thus allowing me to keep the other blog open for miscellaneous junk.

This series will definitely be a slow burner but I'm looking forward to seeing how this pans out in the long run!

If you know of any events relating to mathematics then I'd love to know, it doesn't matter what county its in, just let me know by leaving a comment!