Mathematics
Harvard's Oscar Guru
Ben T. Zauzmer '15, an Applied Math concentrator in Mather House, gained Internet fame last year for his strikingly accurate predictions of who would win the 2012 Oscars. This year, he's at it again. Using results from similar awards shows, critics' picks, and other available data, Zauzmer runs statistical analyses to determine the probability that nominated movies, directors, or actresses will win in their given categories this Sunday. Flyby sat down with Zauzmer to talk movies and math.
5 New Courses for the Undecided Shopper
Despite all its pluses and perks, shopping period does present Harvard students with one potential problem: buyer's remorse. While students filing into course book mainstays like Ec10 and LS1b pretty much know what to expect from the semester, nothing screams caveat emptor quite like the words "New Course" (and the telltale lack of a Q score) next to a class names. But new courses aren't all bad and often offer students a chance to snag a gem of a class before words gets out and the whole shebang is lotteried the following year. So, for those daring students who are eager to plunge into the great unknown (or who couldn't get into Maria Tatar's fairy tales class), here are five new courses that you might want to check out.
Students Compete in Harvard-MIT Math Tournament
Hundreds of high schoolers flooded the Science Center Saturday to compete in the Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament—a prestigious competition that attracts students from across the country.
SEAS Boasts Advising Based On Classwork, Cake, and Nerdy Camaraderie
As the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has almost doubled in undergraduate enrollment since 2008, the rapidly growing school has maintained a firm commitment to intimate, faculty-led advising.
Harvard Math Team Clinches Putnam
A team of three undergraduates clinched the first place title at the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, the 28th time a Harvard team has won, the Mathematical Association of America announced last week.
Former Student Talks Cartoons
The work of a cartoonist is unique because “one graphic can tell a story,” said Lawrence R. “Larry” Gonick ’67, a Harvard mathematics student who went on to dedicate his career to depicting big ideas through comics.
Freshman O’Dorney Juggles Math and Music
Evan M. O’Dorney ’15 scribbles on a white board in a cramped Canaday single strewn with laundry and empty peanut butter jars. His face lights up as he demonstrates how to identify patterns using colorful, maze-like diagrams that he has constructed.
Math Department To Update Facilities
While science departments across the University vie for state-of-the-art laboratory spaces and new equipment, renovations to the mathematics common room on the fourth floor of the Science Center will give Harvard’s math department increased access to a very different kind of technology come October: blackboards.
CS Will Offer New Class on Discrete Math
The Computer Science Department plans to debut a new course—Computer Science 20: “Discrete Mathematics in Computer Science”— next spring that will better prepare students for the required proof-intensive course CS 121.
Professors Reconsider Applied Math 50
Applied Mathematics 50, a survey course with more than 100 students, may undergo restructuring next fall as faculty members reconsider its future within the concentration curriculum.
Vi Hart Dazzles Pfoho with Balloon Polyhedrons
Vi Hart, recreational mathemusician perhaps best known for her videos about doodling in math class, is in residence in Pforzheimer House this week. Last night, she held a workshop where Pforzheimer and College affiliates—including this Flyby correspondent—learned to make polyhedrons and other mathematical objects using balloons.
Math 23's Boy Genius
Looming in the shadows of multivariable calculus and linear algebra proofs, a new breed of brain has infiltrated the Math ...
