Current Headlines
- FEATURE COLUMN and MATH IN THE MEDIA--SEPTEMBER ISSUES
This month's Feature Column is "Gray Codes," by Joe Malkevitch. The September
Math in the Media includes Tony Phillips' Take on the discovery and deciphering of previously unknown or misunderstood dials and inscriptions on the Antikythera Mechanism, "Archimedean" tiling, and the tv ad for the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy. Also in Math in the Media are Math Digest summaries of press coverage of math, and links to Reviews of recent books, films and plays. Image: The square-triangle Archimedean tiling has quasi-pentagonal symmetries (the angle γ = 75o is close to π/5 = 72o.).
- MATHEMATICAL MOMENTS 2008
 See the most recent Mathematical Moments:
*Improving Stents
*Restoring Genius (rediscovering the works of Archimedes)
*Spinning at Infinity (simulating colliding black holes)
*Steering Towards Efficiency (NASCAR and non-race cars) and
*Getting it Together (collective motion)
which are part of eight Mathematical Moments being mailed to college and university departments nationwide. In addition to reading about applications of math, you can also listen to researchers talk about their work. Hear mathematician Kevin Short (University of New Hampshire) talk about what it's like to win a Grammy Award,
physicist Diandra Leslie-Pelecky (University of Texas at Dallas) discuss how math is used by NASCAR engineers, and mathematician Ken Golden (University of Utah) relate his adventures in the Arctic and Antarctic as he seeks to understand the properties of sea ice.
- NOTICES OF THE AMS--SEPTEMBER ISSUE
 The September issue of Notices of the AMS includes the feature articles "Old and New on the Exceptional Group G2," by Ilka Agricola and "Who Is Alexander Grothendieck?" by Winfried Scharlau. This issue also has an opinion piece "The Wolf Prize and Supporting Palestinian Education," by David Mumford, along with reviews of The Archimedes Codex and The Indian Clerk.
- THE GEOMETRY OF 3-MANIFOLDS
The Geometry of 3-Manifolds is a lecture by Harvard University professor and Fields Medalist Curtis T. McMullen on the Poincaré conjecture, which can be viewed online. The video is divided into sections, including an introduction and a question-and-answer segment. The lecture was part of Harvard's Science Center Research Lecture Series. Other lectures, such as Evolutionary Dynamics by Martin Nowak and Solving Cubic Equations by Benedict H. Gross and William A. Stein, are also available online.
- CROCHETING LORENZ MANIFOLDS
 Dr. Hinke Osinga and Professor Bernd Krauskopf (Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol) have turned the famous Lorenz equations into a beautiful real-life object, by crocheting computer-generated instructions of the Lorenz manifold: all crochet stitches together define the surface of initial conditions that under influence of the vector field generated by the Lorenz equations end up at the origin; all other initial conditions go to the butterfly attractor that has chaotic dynamics. See more information, the crochet pattern and mounting instructions, and read a summary of recent articles on knitting and crocheting mathematical objects.
- NEW ON MATHEMATICAL IMAGERY
 Recent additions to Mathematical Imagery include the album of works by Jean-Francois Colonna, "A Gateway Between Art and Science," and quilts by Mary Candace Williams. See all images in the albums, as well as other mathematical images at the site, and send them as e-postcards.
- CHECK OUT THESE WEBSITES:
- WHO'S YOUR FAVORITE FICTIONAL MATHEMATICIAN?
The PLUS Magazine Blog asks the question and invites readers to pick from among a list of 18 fictional characters. The Square (Flatland)? Charlie Eppes (Numb3rs)? Professor Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes)? You can also view the results of the poll, which re-calculates on an ongoing basis the voter favorites. And if your favorite character isn't on the list you can submit a comment to the blog editors.
- L'EXPLOSION DES MATHEMATIQUES
 The Société Mathématique de France (French Mathematical Society) has translated into English "L'explosion des mathématiques," an illustrated booklet on the many applications of mathematics. Chapters include "What lies behind mobile phones," "Preventing waves from making noise," "From DNA to knot theory," "How to rationalize auction sales," "Puzzles for airline companies," "Financial options pricing," and more. Download individual chapters or the entire pdf of the English-language version of the "L'explosion des mathématiques" booklet.
- NUMB3RS MATH ACTIVITIES
 The Mathematics Department at Cornell University has developed a series of materials on math behind the TV show Numb3rs. To date there are over 60 topics related to episodes in the first four seasons, including "Counterfeit Reality," "In Plain Sight," "The Mole," "Pandora's Box," and "Tabu." (Image to left: Diagram from Cornell's "Tabu" of a "tabu search, a kind of local search in which one moves from point to nearby point, trying to find an optimal solution." Graphic used with permission.) Each topic includes a brief synopsis of the program's plot and how the mathematician character Charlie used math to solve the crime, a more in-depth look at the mathematics, and often a suggested activity or a "Tangent"--a tidbit of historical background or other application of the mathematics.
- MOVIES ON THE FUTURES CHANNEL
See a series of brief movies that connect math to the real world: "First one in the ballpark," "Air coasters," "Ingrid's cross-country practice," "Tetradice," "Response time," and "New car tips," are just a few of the topics.
- AMS BOOKSTORE PARTNERS WITH GOOGLE BOOK SEARCH
 It is now easier than ever to find information on over 3,000 AMS books
through the online AMS Bookstore. Choose a book you want to view and use
the power of Google Book Search to explore the contents, view sample
pages and search by specific keyword. From that search result page a
search across the entire AMS Bookstore can identify all AMS books of
interest in seconds.
- MATH DOCTORAL PROGRAMS WEBPAGE
The webpage has separate lists for doctoral programs in mathematics, applied
mathematics and operations research, statistics/biostatistics, and mathematics education. The page was created and is maintained by Sarah-Marie Belcastro.
- MATHEMATICS AND VOTING
 "Does my vote matter? Is the election process fair? Are the votes being counted correctly?" Mathematics and statistics provide the means to deal with the complexity of how votes are cast and counted and how that influences the outcome. Try out different voting methods online.
- PLUS MAGAZINE
The latest issue of Plus Magazine inludes the best young writing talent with the winners of the Plus new writers award 2008, and features about the ways math influences and shapes our lives. The issue explores the overlap between the arts and math, the math of tomography, primes, why mathematicians in the movies are always mad, the nature of infinity, and the math of surprises. There are also puzzles and new podcasts.
- HELP AT DIFFERENT STAGES IN YOUR MATH CAREER
The Art of Problem Solving website lists mathematics scholarships including national
mathematics scholarship competitions, university-specific mathematics
scholarships, and links to other opportunities such as study abroad and
summer programs. Use the 2006 Assistantships & Graduate Fellowships in
the Mathematical Sciences to compare graduate math programs, see
stipend amounts, locate sources of support, and more. See what past math
majors are doing now, on the Early Career Profile
Network. See the AMS web page for job-seekers that
includes links to advice on how to develop your curriculum vitae, interview,
decide if teaching is for you, apply for jobs, and more.
- SELECTED MATH BLOGS
See these sites for interesting math blogs, and give the authors feedback:
bit-player, by Brian Hayes,
Senior Writer for American Scientist; Numb3rs, by Mark
Bridger, Northeastern University; What's New, by Terence Tao, University of California, Los Angeles; MathTrek Blogs, by Julie J. Rehmeyer, Science News Web Editor and Mathematics Writer; The Mathematical Tourist, by Ivars Peterson, MAA Director of Publications for Journals and Communications; Teaching College Math Technology Blog, by Maria H. Anderson, Muskegon Community College; and Carnival of Mathematics, hosted by WordPress.com.
- TEACH FOR AMERICA
Teach For America seeks individuals from all backgrounds, academic majors, and career interests who possess the leadership skills and experience that will enable them to change the prospects of young students. The organization notes: "Only 46% of fourth graders in low-income areas can perform "basic" math, such as adding whole numbers. As a math major, you are uniquely positioned to change this. As a member of Teach For America, you will commit two years to teach in one of our country’s high-need public schools and will gain the skills, perspective, and experience that will help you make an impact over the long term and pursue your personal and professional goals, regardless of your career path." the program offers full salary and benefits. The upcoming application deadlines are SEPTEMBER 19 2008, NOVEMBER 7, 2008, JANUARY 7, 2009, and FEBRUARY 13, 2009. The Teach for America website includes information on the program, graduate and corporate partnerships and online application.
- MATH IN MOSCOW - SPRING 2009 SEMESTER
Now's the time to consider attending the spring 2009 "Math in Moscow" semester at the Independent University of Moscow. Five
scholarships of US$7500 are available per semester, with funding provided by the National Science Foundation and administered by the American Mathematical Society. U.S. undergraduate mathematics or computer science majors may apply for a scholarship to cover some of the costs associated with attendance at the one-semester program. Occasionally, a scholarship may be awarded to a graduate student. The program provides a fifteen-week-long research experience for students, not only with other mathematically talented and highly motivated undergraduates but with some of the world's leading mathematicians as well. Students learn mathematics in an environment similar in spirit to that of an REU, but with broader representation from the international community. The SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 deadline is for both program and scholarship applications for the spring 2009 semester. Learn more about the program and application requirements.
- TAPIA CONFERENCE - TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIPS
The 2009 Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference will take place April 1-4, 2009 at the Portland, Oregon Marriott Downtown Waterfront. The Tapia conference series is organized by the Coalition to Diversify Computing and sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery in cooperation with the Computing Research Association. It honors the significant contributions of Dr. Richard A. Tapia, University Professor and Maxfield-Oshman Professor in Engineering in the Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics and Director of the Center for Excellence and Equity in Education at Rice University in Houston, Texas. A significant number of student scholarships available. Students may apply from August 1 THROUGH OCTOBER 15, 2008 at the conference website and will be notified about scholarships by January 15, 2009.
- AMC 8 , AMC 10 and AMS 12- REGISTRATION DATES
The American Mathematics Contest (AMC) 8 for junior high/middle school students will be held Tuesday November 18, 2008. There are set dates for when you can register at lower rates: through OCTOBER 20 ($33), OCTOBER 21-NOVEMBER 3 ($43), NOVEMBER 4-13 ($53). AMC 10A and 12A for secondary school students will be held February 10, 2009 and AMC 10B and 12B for secondary students will be held February 25, 2009. The registration dates and rates for those are: through DECEMBER 15 ($40), DECEMBER 16-JANUARY 26 ($50), JANUARY 27-FEBRUARY 3 (AMC 10/12A, $60), JANUARY 27-FEBRUARY 25 (AMC10/12B, $60). See the WhatWhen schedule for all the AMC Contests.
- UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT POSTER SESSION - JOINT MATHEMATICS MEETINGS
The Undergraduate Student Poster Session will be held at the 2009 Joint Mathematics Meetings in Washington DC, Wednesday, January 7, 4:00 p.m.-5:30 p.m.. The session, organized by Diana Thomas, Montclair State University, is reserved to undergraduates and first-year graduate students submitting posters on work done while undergraduates.Abstracts are accepted on a first come basis. Space is limited and students are encouraged to apply early. Beginning August 1, 2008 students can submit abstracts online. Examples of poster topics include a new result, a different proof of a known theorem, an innovative solution of a Putnam problem, a new mathematical model or method of solution an applied problem. Purely expository posters cannot be accepted. Prizes will be awarded to the top rated posters with money provided by the AMS, MAA, AWM, CUR, PME and by the Moore Foundation. Trifold, self-standing 48" by 36" tabletop posters will be provided. Additional material or equipment is the responsibility of the presenters. Questions regarding the 2009 Undergraduate Student Poster Session may be directed to Diana Thomas at thomasdia@mail.montclair.edu. The deadline for proposals is Friday, NOVEMBER 7, 2008. The session is sponsored by the MAA-CUPM Subcommittee on Undergraduate Research and the MAA Committee on Undergraduate Student Activities and Chapters (CUSAC).
- SIAM UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ONLINE - CALL FOR PAPERS
SIAM Undergraduate Research Online (SIURO) is a web-based publication devoted to undergraduate research in applied and computational mathematics. Topics include analysis, discrete mathematics, statistics, operations research, optimization, dynamical systems, modeling, and computation. Papers written by undergraduate students (or teams of students) are being accepted on an ongoing basis and will be posted online as they are accepted. The SIURO web site lists the editorial board and has instructions for authors, review policies, etc.
- STIPENDS FOR STUDY AND TRAVEL
The September 2007 issue of Notices of the AMS includes opportunities for graduate
support, postdoctoral support, travel and study abroad, and study
in the U.S. for foreign nationals. There are various deadlines throughout this academic year.
- ATTENTION STUDENTS!
If you are a member of the AMS, MAA, SIAM, AMATYC, AWM or CMS/SMC,
please please keep your contact information current on the online Combined Membership List. The directory is a
great networking tool, so be sure your mathematical colleagues all
over the U.S. and Canada can find you!
FOR POSTDOCS
- NRC RESEARCH ASSOCIATESHIP PROGRAMS. The National Research Council of the National Academies sponsors a number of awards for post-doctoral and senior researchers at federal , then NOVEMBER 1, 2008 and FEBRUARY 1, 2009. The website has detailed program information.
- NSF-AWM TRAVEL GRANTS. NSF-AWM Travel Grants program enables women to attend research conferences in
their fields, thereby providing a valuable opportunity to advance their
research activities and their visibility in the research community. The
grants provide full or partial support for travel and subsistence for a
meeting or conference in the applicant's field of specialization. A
maximum of US$1,500 for domestic travel and US$2,000 for foreign travel will be
available. Women must hold a doctorate (or equivalent experience) and
have a work address in the US (or US home address, in case of unemployed
mathematicians). There are three award periods per year, with
applications due FEBRUARY 1, MAY 1, and, next, OCTOBER 1.
- ALL DEADLINES
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