Nathan Kaplan, who worked with Prof. Allison Pacelli in our 2005 SMALL Undergraduate Mathematics Research Project and who gallantly competed September 13 on Million Second Quiz, gave our Faculty Seminar Friday November 22 on “Curves and Surfaces Over Finite Fields and Coding Theory.” Kaplan is now Gibbs Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Yale.
On Million Second Quiz, Kaplan totally demolished his first two competitors, despite missing a math question on the number of seconds until Christmas. The final Winner’s Defense went neck and neck to sudden death with the silly final multiple choice question on the postal abbreviation for IA, and Nathan’s finger apparently wasn’t quite fast enough (see images below). See the show for yourself.
Nathan was originally scheduled to speak at Williams Friday, and he will be here instead on Friday, November 22, speaking on Curves and Coding Theory.