Mathematics
‘Breakthough Prize’ Grants $3 Million to Univ. Researchers
The awards were given to 12 recipients in in the celebrity-studded “Breakthrough Prize Ceremony” on Nov. 9.
Bad Trend Alert: Senior Bar
I study history and literature, that most refined, elegant, and humble combination of subjects. But it seems that is not enough for the despotic tyrants of Harvard’s Program in General Education. “You must be well-rounded,” they say. “You must study math to remind yourself of how shitty your math has become, and you must study science to remind yourself of how shitty your science has become, and you must stop reading books—everyone thinks you’re a huge nerd.”
Cabot Library Renovations To Begin as Early as Fall 2015
Greenhouse Cafe will be combined with the library as collaborative spaces replace books.
Math Professor Wins 'Genius' Grant
Mathematics professor Jacob A. Lurie ’00, along with three other Harvard graduates, was named a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship on Wednesday.
Lurie
Mathematics professor Jacob A. Lurie ’00 was named a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, a prize commonly referred to as the “Genius Grant,” Wednesday.
Math, Engineering, and the Sciences
Freshman discuss with representatives from various math, engineering, and science concentrations during the academic fairs in the Science Center on Thursday, Aug.29.
Chess with Blitzstein & Elkies: The Pawn is Mightier than the Sword
Both Blitzstein and Elkies are known to be terrific chess players. Blitzstein is ranked as an “Expert” by the US Chess Federation, placing him in the 98th percentile of tournament players. Elkies is ranked even one step higher as a “Master,” and specializes in solving and composing chess problems. Both have been playing chess for as long as they can remember, but the serious mathematicians have found it difficult to find time for their favorite game at Harvard. FM asked the two to revive their passion for a quick match of speed chess.
Forget Math 55: We Can Add Vectors at Harvard
To kick off the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ $2.5 billion capital campaign, Harvard administrators and faculty spent Saturday morning wowing supporters and friends of Harvard with tales of all the amazing things students and researchers are doing on campus. It’s no surprise they tried to play this angle up—after all, a good chunk of the money Harvard hopes to raise will go towards improving teaching and enhancing the learning experience.
Vector Math
Rather than highlight one of the many examples of advanced mathematical research and scholarship conducted at Harvard, the back page of an official FAS campaign booklet showcased… vector addition.
The Cyrus Infection: Miley Crashes Math 21a
To quote the wise poet Jay-Z, "Somewhere in America, Miley Cyrus is still twerking." To be even more specific, somewhere in Harvard, Miley Cyrus is not only twerking but is also taking over any and all aspects of college life. Current "Disney-stars-gone-rogue" concentrators have been grappling with properly classifying and labeling this recent cultural trend and have attempted to chronicle its existence with titles like "The Miley Plague," "The Cyrus Infection," "The Apocalypse," and "The Life and Death of Hannah Montana." But haters cannot deny that from the incessant appearance of "We Can't Stop" on seemingly every final club's playlist (we all see your ploy to get girls to twerk) to Miley references in, dare we say, the classroom itself, we at Harvard really just can't stop.
A Talk with Dr. Stephen Wolfram
Dr. Stephen Wolfram, scientist and founder of search engine WolframAlpha and computation software Mathematica, suggests at a lecture Thursday that computation will be increasingly critical to a broad range of fields.
Stephen Wolfram Talks WolframAlpha
Most students who have taken a Harvard mathematics course have at some point used the WolframAlpha search engine or the Mathematica computation software to help solve a tough question on a problem set. On Thursday evening, several dozen of these undergraduates gathered in Science Center Hall D to see the man behind the machine—Stephen Wolfram.
Concentration Satisfaction: Class of 2012
As freshmen enter the second week of Advising Fortnight, Flyby presents a complete set of data from the Class of 2012's concentration satisfaction ratings. For all freshmen looking to narrow down the list of potential concentrations, sophomores or juniors curious about their chosen concentrations, and seniors reflecting on their undergraduate careers, here are the stats from last year's graduating seniors on how satisfied they were with their respective concentrations. Check out our four interactive graphs showing overall satisfaction rates among Humanities, Natural Sciences, SEAS, and Social Sciences concentrators in the Class of 2012.
Overall Satisfaction with Natural Sciences Concentrations among Class of 2012
Graduating natural sciences concentrators in the Class of 2012 rated their overall satisfaction with their respective concentrations on a scale of one to five.
Harvard Places First In Putnam Math Competition
Harvard placed first in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, which is often considered the most prestigious annual college-level math competition in the world, the Mathematical Association of America announced last week.
Math Lovers Celebrate Pi Day
Amidst rowdy campus-wide Housing Day celebrations, a group of math-loving students and professors held a party of their own in the Science Center math common room Thursday to mark Pi Day, the March 14 holiday that represents the first three digits of the mathematical constant pi.
Three-Point-One-Four
The Department of Mathematics celebrated Pi day with cake and refreshments for the community. Pi is used to represent the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, which is approximately 3.14159.
Ben Zauzmer Wins Oscars
With the Academy Awards now over, Flyby caught up with Harvard's very own Oscar guru Ben Zauzmer '15. Zauzmer, who published data predicting the Oscar wins, used available data pertaining to the nominees to predict the likelihood they would go home with an Oscar. Zauzmer tells Flyby how the math matched up to the winning movies.
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.