SMALL 2023 GROUPS The following is a list of projects for 2023; check back later as more may be added. Please email the director ([email protected]) with questions. The groups are Chip-Firing Games on Graphs, Commutative Algebra: Interactions with Logic (Jenna Zomback, Williams and Austyn Simpson, Michigan), Commutative… Continue reading »
A student recently shared the following: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk6wbvNPZW0&feature=youtu.be This includes some work I did with a student, David Montague, a few years back in SMALL. The animation is terrific; my favorite example is our proof of the irrationality of sqrt(5) (starts at 9 minutes). The paper is here:… Continue reading »
In September 2016, a team of mathematics faculty, technologists and instructional designers from six leading liberal arts colleges (LACOL member schools Amherst, Haverford, Pomona, Swarthmore, Vassar and Williams) are launching a new collaboration to explore blended course sharing for select topics in advanced mathematics. The goal of the project is… Continue reading »
I’ve had a lot of fun with some cubing events recently in Williamstown. The first was an official cube event organized by local student Ric Donati. For results see https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/c.php?top3=Top+3&competitionId=WilliamsWinter2016 http://cubecomps.com/live.php?cid=1377 The second was earlier today, a cube workshop run by myself and my son, Cameron, at… Continue reading »
This is a sequel to an earlier post: To bead, or not to bead. In that post my daughter Kayla and I did a fuse bead picture of the Fibonacci spiral, and we talked about how it can be used to give a geometric proof to the sum of… Continue reading »
AFTER IMAGES — A LEGO BRICKUMENTARY: Steven J. Miller, Associate Professor of Mathematics and instructor of The Mathematics of LEGO Bricks, will join Images Cinema Executive Director Doug Jones in a post-screening discussion about the creative possibilities of LEGOs following screenings of the family-friendly A LEGO Brickumentary on… Continue reading »
For the past two winter studies I’ve taught a course on the Mathematics of LEGO bricks, with a goal of assembling a team to assemble the 3152 piece Superstar destroyer in under 10 minutes (we just missed by a few seconds the first year, and did it in under… Continue reading »
It is often said that mathematics is universal; one of my greatest joys, both as a parent and as a professor, is finding interesting and novel ways to illustrate various concepts. Over the past few years I’ve been fortunate to work with many great SMALL students on projects related to… Continue reading »
Like many mathematicians, I’m happy when I can combine my work with my other passions. As a lifelong Red Sox fan, I didn’t realize that all those games I watched when I was young was preparing me for a very productive career in sabermetrics, the science of applying math and… Continue reading »
Join us Wednesday, March 18th for a day of activities celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Williams Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest academic honor society. Events begin at 10am in Lawrence 231 where William Arms of Cornell, our distinguished visiting scholar, will give a talk in… Continue reading »