East Midlands Branch

THE INSTITUTE OF MATHEMATICS AND ITS APPLICATIONS

Geometry Ancient and Modern

by

John Silvester

Kings College, London

Tuesday 22 January 2002

starting at 7.30 pm

James Went W1.12,

City Site, De Montfort University,

Leicester

Abstract

Geometry, having all but disappeared from school syllabuses a generation ago, is currently undergoing something of a revival, and its teaching is the subject of a recent Royal Society/JMC report. This talk illustrates a number of approaches to geometry, by giving three quite different proofs of a nice theorem about three circles: (1) a proof that Euclid could have given but didn't; (2) a proof by coordinates that never mentions x or y; and (3) a colourful 19th century proof involving cubics. (Complete with demonstrations using computer algebra and dynamic geometry packages.)

John has first-hand experience of teaching Geometry to first-year undergraduates at King's College London, and is the author of a recent textbook (OUP, 2001) with the same title as this talk!

No charge is made to attend meetings, non-IMA members are welcome

For further details of this event or other East Midlands Branch activities consult the Web Site http://science.ntu.ac.uk/ccb/html/ima.html or by contacting the Branch General Secretary:

Dr Stephen Hibberd, email: Stephen.Hibberd@nottingham.ac.uk or Tel. (0115) 9513841