The Math Department observed Math Awareness Week (April 22- 26) with two special lectures given by distinguished mathematicians. John McCleary, Professor of Mathematics at Vassar College, spoke April 22 on "The Meaning of Non-Euclidean Geometry." McCleary is the author of several books, including one on non-Euclidean geometry published by Oxford University Press. Non-Euclidean geometry was one of the revolutionary discoveries of the nineteenth century and has influenced mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers ever since. McCleary's talk focused on what it is and how it affected the way we think about the world today.
Professor David Moore of the Purdue Statistics Department gave a talk on April 24 entitled "How to Tell the Facts from the Artifacts." He pointed out that the tools that give statistics its technical flavor implement systematic ways of thinking about data, variation, and uncertainty that should be part of everyone's intellectual armament. Professor Moore is the Shanti S. Gupta Distinguished Professor of Statistics. He was the content developer for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting college-level telecourse "Against All Odds: Inside Statistics" and has received the MAA's national award for distinguished college or university teaching of mathematics.