Course Details

420: Numbers

July 15-17, 2019
9:45 AM - 11:15 AM
In-Person

Although the alphabet gets most of the press, numbers have been with us just as long. This study group will start with Egyptian, Babylonian, and Chinese beginnings, and go on to aspects of modern number theory, with emphasis on a few particular numbers (Pi, Fibonacci's number, and e, the base of natural logarithms). Group members should have knowledge of addition and subtraction and modest ability at multiplication and division.

Class Type: Discussion

Class Format: TBA

Hours of Reading: Less than 1 hour/session

Study Group Leader(s):

Jacques Read

Jacques Read has a PhD in both chemistry and physics, and has performed research at Oak Ridge and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. He has taught at Fairleigh Dickinson and the University of California, and been employed by the AEC, NRC, and DOE. This will be the twelfth OLLI study group he has led.

Reading List:

A Curious History of Mathematics, The Big Ideas from Primitive Numbers to Chaos Theory (Joel Levy) | 2013: Metro Books | ISBN: 978-1-4351-6090-3 | Recommended