UNDERGRADUATE MATH SEMINAR

TITLE: The Three Ancient Greek Construction Problems: some history and some solutions

ABSTRACT: Ancient Greek mathematicians struggled with three geometric construction problems:

1. Trisect an arbitrary angle 2. Square the circle (i.e., given a circle, construct a square having the same area) 3. Double the cube (i.e., given a cube, construct another cube having twice the volume)

They were unable to solve any of these problems using the traditional Euclidean ruler-and-compass tools. However, they did solve all three using so-called “mechanical methods”. We shall discuss the history of these three problems and present two mechanical solutions.

Professor Julius Barbanel

The next seminar of the term will be DATE: MONDAY, April 20th Time & 4:45pm – Refreshments in Bailey 204 Location: 5:00pm – Seminar in Bailey 207 In this seminar, Professor Julius Barbanel from the Union College Math Department will be giving the following talk:

HRUMC a Rousing Success!

On Saturday, April 11, the Union College Math Department hosted the 22nd annual Hudson River Undergraduate Mathematics Conference (HRUMC). About 300 mathematically minded people congregated and spent the day attending a wide range of math talks by both undergraduates and faculty members from the New York/New England region. The day was separated into several sections: registration and breakfast, a first session of nine parallel sessions of three talks, a keynote address by the world famous computer scientist/cryptographer Ron Rivest, a lunch buffet, a second session of ten parallel sessions of four talks, a coffee break, and finally a third session of nine parallel sessions of three talks. Throughout the day, Prof. Jue Wang doubled as a photographer and snapped some wonderful pictures. What follows here and on the next page is a sampling of her work. More pictures from the HRUMC will be published in the newsletter throughout the spring term.

Department of Mathematics April 17, 2015

Problem of the Newsletter – April 17, 2015 We’re back! After a brief hiatus, the Problem of the Newsletter is back. This week’s problem, “When is Cheryl’s Birthday?” is from a Math Olympiad in Singapore and is going viral on Facebook.

Yes, the solution is available online, but give it a shot yourself! Professor Friedman will accept (non-internet! Honor code, please!) solutions to this problem until noon on Thursday, April 23. Email your solution to him at friedmap@union.edu, or place it in his mailbox in the Math Department office, Bailey 204.

Next Math Club Meeting: Wednesday, April 22 in Bailey 204 at 1:00

Participants in the HRUMC registered and picked-up the conference program at the Nott Memorial. In the photo on the right, Union College Professors Jeff Jauregui, Bill Zwicker, and Skidmore College Professor David Vella review the program to plan their day.

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