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SUMMARY:Mathematics and the Nude: an application of the Catastrophe Theory
  - Dr Allan McRobie
DTSTART:20080311T193000Z
DTEND:20080311T203000Z
UID:TALK10991@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Aurélie Papon
DESCRIPTION:Catastrophe Theory was largely created by the brilliant and ra
 ther extraordinary Fields Medal-winning French mathematician Rene Thom aro
 und 1970. It soon gained a high profile in the public imagination and has 
 since found many applications across the sciences and engineering. Some ap
 plications - such as those in physics (optics and wave mechanics) and engi
 neering (stability theory of elastic structures\, ship stability and compu
 ter vision) - may be described as orthodox\, but others (in biological mor
 phogenesis and the proposed applications in the social sciences\, for exam
 ple) have been more speculative.\n\nCurrently the theory is enjoying consi
 derable success in the analysis and understanding of gravitational lensing
  in the distant reaches of the Universe\, with profound consequences. Afte
 r looking at this and other scientific applications\, this lecture will he
 ad off in a different direction\, for it is not widely known that the theo
 ry also applies to a great deal of art. \nThe lecturer hopes to demonstrat
 e that even a basic understanding of Thom's mathematics can change one's a
 ppreciation of a great deal of both traditional and modern art\, with a pa
 rticular emphasis on the nude.\n\nAllan McRobie is a Reader in the Departm
 ent of Engineering at Cambridge. He is a structural engineer with speciali
 st interests in dynamics and stability. It was during a life drawing class
  at the Department\, (classes that Allan had introduced there to broaden t
 he horizons of the Engineering students) that he first recognised the stro
 ng unifying resonances that exist between his lecture notes on stability t
 heory and the shapes in front of his eyes. He was awarded a Fellowship in 
 2003 by NESTA (National Endowment of Science\, Technology and the Arts) to
  explore the connections between engineering and mathematics on the one ha
 nd\, and the emotions\, imagination and the humanities on the other. In 20
 06\, he was awarded a Pilkington Prize for teaching excellence.\n\nWarning
 : this talk contains mathematics\, art and nudity.\nPlease do not attend i
 f any offend.\n
LOCATION:Newnham College MCR
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