‘Mathematics, Sanskrit should go hand-in-hand’

There is an immediate need to connect Sanskrit with mathematics and both subjects should be taught together to make “ancient scientific language” flourish in India and other countries, says the first Indian-origin mathematician to win the coveted Fields Medal.

Sanskrit needs to be connected and taught with other Indian languages, said Manjul Bhargava, 40, who has ancestral roots in Jaipur and is working on a Sanskrit-mathematics-based curriculum suitable for students of class 5 to 10. The wizard of numbers is likely to meet Human Resource Development minister Smriti Irani on January 15 to discuss his project.

“Sanskrit and mathematics should not be taught in isolation, as is happening at present. The ancient language naturally connects to mathematics and other Indian languages,” he said.

“There is need for curriculum modification and refresher courses for teachers that would enable them to teach Sanskrit-mathematics in new perspective” Bhargava told HT.

He came to Jaipur after attending the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas in Gujarat and the recently held Indian Science Congress.

All the economically and scientifically developed countries like France, Germany, China, and Japan take pride in their own languages and prefer English just as a second language, he said.

“India was colonised for long time period during which Indian culture was de-emphasised. Now it’s time to de-colonise and change the colonial mind set as China and Japan have done,” said Bhargava stressing that India needs to free herself from such mindset to become a global leader — scientifically, economically and culturally.

“India is one of the few countries trying to give preference to a foreign language (English). It should be a secondary language and all the subjects should be taught in Hindi, Sanskrit or in other Indian languages,” he suggested.

Bhargava claims that a large number of computer scientists and mathematicians in the world study Sanskrit for better understanding of subjects but the language is ignored in its native country.

Bhargava, who was afraid of Mathematics classes, started loving numbers after reading Sanskrit books of his grandfather Purushottam Lal Bhargava who taught the language at University of Rajasthan.

“Learning mathematics will become fun and interest in Sanskrit too will increase through the new curriculum which will have creative elements. In fact, all Indian languages must be given importance so that they can be connected with employment,” said Bhargava who teaches a course ‘Magic of Numbers’ built by combining Sanskrit and mathematics at Princeton University.

On his next visit to Jaipur, Bhargava plans to share his ‘Magic of Numbers’ with some local schools. The course is an amalgamation of Sanskrit, mathematics, classical music, magic and games, he elaborated.

Resource: ‘Mathematics, Sanskrit should go hand-in-hand’

Start maths GCSE courses sooner, says Welsh exam chief

Pupils in Wales should begin studying maths GCSE courses a year earlier than they do now when new qualifications come into force next year, an exam chief has said.

From September 2015 most children will study for two maths GCSEs rather than the one currently offered in schools.

Gareth Pierce, head of the WJEC, said schools would need sufficient time to cover all the work.

But the Welsh government said more teaching time would not be needed.

From next year a numeracy course will assess what maths skills learners need in their everyday lives in the world of work and in other general curriculum areas.

Read more:Start maths GCSE courses sooner, says Welsh exam chief

How George Boole gave birth to ‘pure mathematics’

Boole, who died 150 years ago, opened a new path for maths and will be honoured by UCC, where he worked

 One of the world’s great mathematicians, died in Cork 150 years ago this week, a thinker whose work paved the way for digital computing and modern electronic devices of all kinds.

George Boole, who was Cork university’s first professor of mathematics, had caught a fever two weeks previously. He had walked 5 km to the college through driving rain, and then, in wet clothes, gave a lecture. Perhaps not surprisingly he succumbed to infection, as so often happened in those pre-antibiotic days. On December 8th 1864, he died, shortly after his 49th birthday.

Thus, next year marks the 200th anniversary of his birth, and University College Cork is organising a major programme celebrating the life and legacy of a man acknowledged as the “father of pure mathematics”. Events have just begun in the last few days, with a poignant re-creation of Boole’s final walk.

Boole was a creative and unorthodox thinker who found a way to write logical questions as algebraic equations. He thought of himself as a logician rather than a mathematician yet, in a series of publications in the 1840s and 1850s, he opened a whole new direction for mathematics.

A century later, an American mathematician and engineer Claude Shannon, himself acknowledged as the ‘father of information theory’, used Boole’s concepts, and especially his ‘Boolean algebra’, to design the first digital circuits. The rest, you could say, is 20th century history.

Boole came to Cork in 1849 from England, when he was appointed the first professor of mathematics at the new Queen’s College Cork (now UCC). It was an inspired, perhaps surprising appointment: Boole had no real academic background, and though he had published a number of original papers, he was largely self-taught. Today it would be an unusual, even unlikely professorial appointment, but the 1840s were different times.

He settled in Cork and though he initially described it as “excessively damp”, he later wrote – in what will be no surprise to Corkonians – that it was “the best place in Ireland”.

It was thanks to Cork that Boole met his wife, Mary Everest, niece of his friend and colleague John Ryall, the college’s professor of Greek. Mary was an interesting woman in her own right who later had a career in mathematics education. As her interest in mathematics developed, Boole met, coached and corresponded with her. In 1854, the couple married, enjoyed a happy decade and had five daughters before his untimely death.

In 1854, Boole also published what is arguably his major work, his ‘Laws of Thought’ as it is usually called. Or, to give it its full title: An Investigation of the Laws of Thought, on which are founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities. Much of the book was written in Cork. Bertrand Russell, the English mathematician, logician and philosopher, described it as “the work in which pure mathematics was discovered”.

But back to events of 150 years ago. Boole’s funeral took place on December 12th, to St Michael’s Church of Ireland in Ballintemple, and according to a report in the Cork Examiner the following day, his cortege was followed by “serried files of students” in their gowns and caps.

Today, UCC lays claim to be Boole’s academic home. There’s a library named in Boole’s honour and, in the Aula Maxima, a fine stained-glass window erected in his memory by public subscription shortly after his death. And now, the programme to mark Boole’s bicentenary.

The year-long programme of events and exhibitions includes a website – http://georgeboole200.ucc.ie/ – where you can read more about the great man’s life and legacy; also a new edition of a biography, by Des MacHale, himself a retired professor of mathematics at UCC.

But the quickest and most appropriate way to assess Boole’s legacy is to Google him. There would be no internet, no digital computers, and no online search without him. So it’s good to see that the word “Boolean” turns up over 51 million hits.

Strangely, there has yet to be a Google doodle in his honour. An odd omission, given Boolean algebra is the basis of all online searches. Hopefully that’s something Google will rectify in 2015.

 Resource:How George Boole gave birth to ‘pure mathematics’

Fisher: Mathematics and reality

You are driving to the post office and come to an intersection. There is a post on your right near the corner with an octagonal red sign with white edges. On the sign are the capital letters ES-TEA-OH-PEA. What do you do?

If you answered “Slow down, look slyly around and zibble on through without stopping” shame on you. Too many drivers do that. Perhaps there should be a billboard saying “IMMEDIATE ATTENTION: According to local ordnance F38451, subsection 15.b.8 drivers of all conveyances encountering this billboard will bring their vehicle to a complete stop relative to said billboard. Violators will be DISINTEGRATED by the laser cannon on your immediate left.” That would get your attention.

A stop sign is a symbol with a specific meaning. Humans use symbols as shortcut reminders of something more extensive. The alphabet is a convention of symbols we use to represent words, which are themselves symbols. The word cat is not a “cat,” but represents the group of felines that reside in many of our homes. The history of numerals is long and tangled and are symbols used to count, measure, or calculate. Until the invention of multiplication and long division arithmetic could only be done by specialists. An unfortunate aside: with the advent of calculators, computers, and smart devices many among us have even forgotten how do balance a checkbook on a sheet of paper.

In the 9th century, al-Khwarizimi, an Arab mathematician wrote the first treatise on algebra. By the end of that century, Egyptian mathematician Abu Kamil had stated and proved the basic laws and identities of algebra. These allow us to manipulate symbols to find key values of interest in sets of equations. In the 18th century, Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz independently provided the basis for calculus. This proved essential for the scientists and inventors of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution.

Calculus has two branches, differential and integral, used to analyze mathematical curves in multidimensional space. Differential calculus is used to determine changes in the slope of a curve, that is, how it increases or decreases with respect to a variable. Integrals are used to determine the area or volume under a curve. Many physical processes can best be described using calculus, such as the pressure of a gas in a closed vessel, or the stress in a beam to be used in a bridge. Differentials can lead to sets of equations to describe complex systems.

In fact, some phenomena can only be understood in terms of these sets of equations. Electromagnetic force, for example, was first described by James C. Maxwell as a set of differential equations in 1863. We still deal with the changes in electrical and magnetic properties of light and electricity in extensions of these equations. The symbols and their manipulation are well known to scientists and engineers.

Mathematics has many branches, each with its own symbols and rules. Quantum mechanics and cosmology involve differential equations, matrix algebra, probability, and other forms, as do fields such as actuarial, seismology and climatology. In each case, the science is specified in sets of equations. If they follow the appropriate sets of methodology, conclusions, within statistical limits can be tested and either accepted or rejected. If there is an error, someone in the field can point it out. As more observations in the form of data becomes available they can run the model again, usually resulting in tighter statistical limits, say becoming 90 percent probable instead of 80 percent, plus or minus a couple of points.

In order to form a valid opinion about a scientific topic dealing with reality, one must address the mathematics, not the emotions of a topic. You can’t wish away electromagnetism or gravity. There are always deniers who don’t want to confront an idea that forces them to make a change.

It is good to doubt new ideas. If the idea is about what is happening in the real world, look at the data and the methodology. If you can point out an error of either omission or commission, continue to doubt. However, if you just “feel” it is wrong, your opinion is invalid, and therefore of no consequence.

Ed Fisher is a Morning Sun columnist.

Resource:Fisher: Mathematics and reality (themorningsun.com)

Lee Student Presents At American Mathematics Society

Jonathan Clark outside the AMS Fall Southeastern Sectional Meeting.

Lee University student Jonathan Clark presented at the fall Southeastern Sectional Meeting of the American Mathematics Society. His presentation was titled “An Application of a Generalized Parameterization of Conic Sections.”

Mr. Clark’s presentation took a closer look at the connection between the two- and three-dimensional definitions of conic sections. Using vector calculus and linear algebra Mr. Clark was able to uniquely model three-dimensional conic sections, which, when added to two-dimensional versions of the sections, resulted in a special curve called an oblique strophoid.

According to Dr. Jeneva Moseley, Lee University assistant professor of mathematics and Mr. Clark’s advisor for the presentation, Mr. Clark was among only about four percent of the presenters for the AMS meeting who were undergraduate students, while the majority of presenters had their doctorates.

“I could not be more proud of Jonathan Clark,” said Dr. Moseley. “Of all the presentations I saw at the conference, Jonathan's was the most interesting and well-articulated. He responded to questions with confidence and communicated his mathematical results extremely effectively.”

The AMS’s programs and services for its members and the global mathematical community include professional programs, publications, meetings and conferences, support for young scholars programs, tools for researchers and authors, and a public awareness office that provides resources to members, students, teachers, the media, and the general public.

Mr. Clark is a resident of Cleveland and graduated from Walker Valley High School. While at Lee, he has earned a cumulative GPA of 3.87, granting him the Honors Scholarship. Mr. Clark tutors students in math, physics, and physical chemistry, and he is the treasurer of Lee Prime, the Lee University math club.

While taking a research-based course here at Lee, Mr. Clark recently completed an article which is under review by the Mathematical Association of America’s Mathematics Magazine. He devotes much of his time to independent research and studying to prepare for graduate school, where he plans to study applied mathematics, particularly theoretical physics.

Resource: Lee Student Presents At American Mathematics Society (chattanoogan.com)

Learning mathematics can be fun with abacus

Learning mathematics has been tough for many students for long. But they find learning maths a fun now thanks to introduction of abacus method of teaching, says Ms N. Premalatha, Director, Excel Abacus IQR.

“Abacus method of learning is a boon for children studying between class II and VI to grasp the basics of problem-solving capabilities the natural way,” she said after conducting a district-level competition for the enrolled students at the Bhashyam Public School here on Friday. “Our students crack arithmetic problems in no time now thanks to abacus,” school academic in-charge N.Susheela added with a sense of satisfaction. “Learning abacus stimulates brain functioning. The learner acquires skills in listening, grasping, memory, recollection and concentration,” she added while screening students for the State-level competition in Guntur on coming Sunday. The national-level competition would be conducted in Chennai during February, she said.

Resource: Learning mathematics can be fun with abacus (thehindu.com)

Darwin whiz-kid Matthew Chapman excels in Australian Mathematics Competition despite hating maths

A Darwin student has come top of the class in a worldwide mathematics tournament his parents made him enter despite not even liking the subject.

Matthew Chapman, 13, beat hundreds of thousands of other children from almost 4,000 schools in more than 30 countries as part of the 37th annual Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC).

Competitors answered 30 problems set in situations which the organisers said show the relevance of mathematics in students' everyday lives. The top placegetters receive a medal, with 77 being awarded this year, representing the top 0.03 per cent.

Matthew, who is in Year 8 at Dripstone Middle School in Darwin's northern suburbs was the first NT student to win an AMC medal in 10 years.

A very modest Matthew, who said he would rather play sport than tackle sums, seemed unfazed by the honour when he spoke to the ABC.

Was he excited about the award ceremony?

"A little bit."

Why did he enter the competition?

"My parents put me in it."

Did he even like maths?

"No."

He said he preferred sport and music, which are his favourite subjects at school.

Matthew said he didn't study for the competition.

His mother Jodi Chapman, who takes care of her four children at home, said he wasn't given any special classes.

"He does just have a natural ability, certainly, for maths. He plays board games a bit, so maybe that might contribute," she said.

She studied accounting at university and said her husband and herself both had a knack for maths when they were in school.

His father Bruce Chapman, an Anglican youth minister, said he couldn't be prouder of his son.

"Matthew's really got his feet on the ground. It's not like maths is a particular love of his life. He does pretty well at school all round. And I think he's just got a natural talent to do with numbers," he said.
High scores not a problem

"Most of the questions have to do with problem solving," Matthew said.

The Australian Mathematics Trust, which runs the competition, said it is designed to be fun and practical, with problems "set in situations which show the relevance of mathematics in students' everyday lives".

The Trust's executive director, Adjunct Professor Mike Clapper said it was encouraging that the number of medallists from Australia had this year increased from 25 to 34.

It's a record number, he said, and many were first-time medallists, like Matthew.

Despite his take-it-or-leave it attitude, Matthew has quite a high strike rate.

He first entered the AMC in 2009 and was awarded a distinction.

He achieved a high distinction in 2010 and more distinctions in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

In 2012 he received the Moil Primary School Excellence in Mathematics award and in 2013, the Dripstone Middle School Year 7 Mathematics award.

Matthew said he wants to be a pilot, while dad Bruce said he'll support him in whatever he chose to do.

Resource: Darwin whiz-kid Matthew Chapman..(www.abc.net.au)

Mathematics

I am a Plus Two Science student and wish to pursue higher studies in mathematics. Let me know about the courses and leading institutions that offer them and the mode of selection.

ALEENA THOMAS

e-mail

Mathematics is a good higher study option for those who have an aptitude for and interest in the subject. After Plus Two, seek admission to the research-oriented five-year integrated BS-MS or M.Sc. programme in mathematics or take up the three year B.Sc. course and further do M.Sc. and PhD. The BS-MS course and the four year BS (Bachelor of Science) programme are good options for higher study.

The Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs); the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), and the University of Mumbai-Department of Atomic Energy (UM-DAE) Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences offer the integrated BS-MS programme. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc.), Bangalore, and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) offer four year BS programmes in basic science disciplines, including mathematical sciences.

Also Read: IIT-JAM Crash Course | DIPS ACADEMY

IISERs

Their key features are integration of undergraduate teaching with cutting-edge research in an interdisciplinary manner. Visit www.iiser-admission.in; www.iisertvm.ac.in; www.iiserpune.ac.in; www.iiserbhopal.ac.in; www.iisermohali.ac.in; or www.iiserkol.ac.in for details.

NISER

NISER, Bhubaneswar, of the Department of Atomic Energy offers a five-year integrated M.Sc. programme in mathematical, physical, chemical, and biological sciences. Visit www.niser.ac.in for details. The UM-DAE Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences, Mumbai, offers five-year integrated M.Sc. programmes in mathematical, physical, chemical, and biological sciences. Visit http://cbs.ac.in for details.

IISc.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc.), Bangalore, offers four-year B.Sc. course in physics, chemistry, biology, environmental science, materials and mathematics. Visit www.iise.ernet.in/ug for details.

Central Universities

The Central University of Tamil Nadu offers a five-year integrated M.Sc. course in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Visit www.tiruvarur.tn.nic.in for details.

The Central University of Jharkhand conducts an integrated M.Sc. programme in Applied Mathematics, physics and chemistry (www.cuj.ac.in). Selection to Central Universities is through a common entrance test (www.cucet.ac.in).

IITs

The IIT, Roorkee, offers a five-year integrated M.Sc. programme in Applied Mathematics. The IIT, Kharagpur, offers a five-year integrated M.Sc. course in mathematics and computing. The IIT, Kanpur, offers the course in mathematics and scientific computing.

BITS

The Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) offers integrated M.Sc. (Honours) programmes in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology.GOPAKUMAR KARAKONAM


Resource: thehindu.com

HSC 2014: Is there a use for mathematics after high school?

The thought of doing his two-unit maths HSC paper again makes Patrick Green want to "crawl up into a little ball and cry".

The University of Sydney physiotherapy student thought studying maths in Year 12 would give him a massive leg-up at university. It has helped to a degree with some of his biomechanics work but he would not want to sit the exam again.
Patrick Green, a physiotherapy student at the University of Sydney, with his classmates.

Patrick Green, a physiotherapy student at the University of Sydney, with his classmates. Photo: Supplied

"I remember what it was like when I was learning it at the time and I would struggle now most definitely. I'm not using it a lot to be honest.
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"Maybe if it was a little bit more life-related, it would be better. If they had taught us how to apply for a bank loan or something like that, as opposed to stuff you might not need, it would have been good."

On Wednesday, 50,000 students left their HSC maths exam and rejoiced or despaired at the thought of never having to do two-unit maths again.

Only one day later, questions are already being asked over just how useful the formulas and methods learnt during high school are.  

Angus McDougall, 25, a Sydney structural engineer, says he "wasn't amazing" at maths

Read more: smh.com.au

Indian mathematics was born out of practical needs of the society, says Vedic math scholar

Our schools teach Maths only to tackle the exams and not to resolve the situational needs of the society or a person, says Vedic and ancient Indian Math scholar Vinay Nair in a chat with Sriprakash Menon

Mathematics may sound problematic for many but Vedic Math (VM) and Ancient Indian Mathematics (AIM) scholar and teacher Vinay Nair finds maths a fascinating subject which is very purposeful in day-to-day life besides overcoming challenges of modern day competitive exams.

Vinay has been conducting AIM and VM classes for the last five years and has attended many national seminars and conferences besides presenting papers on Maths at an international conference. He has designed the world's first online VM course for Chinmaya Mission and also runs the Mumbai-based School of Vedic Maths. Here, he demystifies maths as a subject for students and brings out rich facets of both AIM and VM.

How did you develop an interest in Maths?
When in school, I liked maths, especially VM written by Bharati Krishna Thirtha (Sankaracharya of Puri Math) from Tamil Nadu. My mom used to teach me maths from this book. It is an important source for maths. My other inspiration was my maths teacher from Palakkad P P Raman - a teacher who taught us how to think. With his unique style of teaching he could bring out the best in any of his students.

Why is VM considered to be unique?
The topics mainly deal with maths and algebra in VM and can be taught to students from sixth standard up to the post-graduation level. It is a different way of doing the same calculations faster than the conventional method. VM is built on 16 sutras - the procedure to calculate is given in the sutras, mainly they are like 'aphorisms'. VM lays stress on techniques.

Would you say maths is vital for students pursuing any career?
Every competitive exams has maths questions, it is directly related to IQ level. A person thinks logically with maths. It covers a wide gamut of things from calculation to costing. Actually it is the only subject which involves every person's day to day life as well; a lay person does not understand that. However, in schools this subject is taught to tackle the exams. They do not give a thrust to resolve situational needs.

How do you differentiate VM with AIM? Is AIM equally significant for students from the Indian point of view?
AIM is different from VM, which is based on the sutras born out of intuitive revelations. Aryabhatta, Bhaskara and Mahavira pioneered AIM and it was a tool for solving problems of other science (astronomy, civil engineering) and day-to-day problems. In India, Maths was born out of practical needs of the society and hence it is applied mathematics. Learning of AIM is extremely relevant and interesting for students. After knowing the potential of AIM, I have shifted my focus of teaching as it covers wider areas of maths, which is also full of concepts.

India's contribution to maths was immense yet our educational system has scared students from taking up this subject.
We have a rich legacy of knowledge but right from the inception of our freedom, we have not evolved our own teaching methods, so maths cannot be looked at in isolation. In fact, nobody was aware till recently that there was a school of Mathematics in Kerala which followed Aryabhatta tradition and scholar Madhava was said to be the founder of calculus.
Presently, in India we are learning western maths. There is nothing wrong in that but the fact remains that India was the birth place of maths. Ancient Arab and Chinese scholars learned maths from India and European learned it from the Arabs. It was ancient Indian scholars who slogged on all the problems of maths and found the solution. Greece was another country where maths evolved but they could not conceive zero and infinity. They were stuck with geometry and could not think Algebra. Indian mathematicians discovered zero and infinity due to our strong philosophy and knowledge of Vedas which talked about completeness. In western maths, scholars like Leibniz, Euler and Bache also worked on several concepts. However, the foundation of maths was given by India.

Do you think Indian education has moved away from maths?
Day-to-day activities and practical life styles can sharpen maths skills but students are avoiding that. Nobody now remembers numbers, they all use digital and electronic aids including mobiles. Maths learning peaked in India because our learning was based on the questioning and thinking abilities. Now we are provided with readymade concepts and children are trained only to remember this. The method to understand a formula should be out of reasoning and not by any other way.

Have you initiated any new training program to encourage maths among students?
We had a recent camp on maths, based on the classic text Leelavati of Bhaskara, one of the most celebrated books on maths. We are also encouraging research on maths at schools, besides our training programme 'Raising A Mathematician' (RAM), which was held jointly by Raising A Mathematician Foundation and Uttan Vividh Lakshyee Shikshan Sanstha recently, with a view to popularise and encourage research, and taking maths to maximum number of people in the country.

Resource:  dnaindia.com
 

Nokia Mobile-Mathematics: A solution for mathematic failure in Tanzania?

It is obvious that mathematics failure in Tanzania has been serious problems for years.There are different arguments about why there is poor results in Mathematics for Tanzanian students.

Some people say,pupils fail because of unqualified teachers. Others say,the subject itself is very difficult with complications in principles and calculations.

All in all we can’t deny the fact that Mathematic is a catalyst in every science combination. There is no Science without Mathematics. Mathematics is a key subject in science courses,we need to do different strategies to teach this subject,thanks for the  Nokia Mobile-Mathematics,a program which has been officially launched recently at the Commission for Science and Technology(COSTECH).

Nokia mobile Mathematics program is an innovative service that offers assistance in learning and teaching mathematics. The program composes of secondary school mathematics curriculum with more than 9000 exercises, examples and theory notes.

It also includes competitions and self assessment tests.The program which is facilitated by Nokia,Microsoft and Tigo has been launched after being successful in South Africa.

The program proposes an understanding of mathematics to teachers and students as well as to offer equal learning access in schools.

According to Nokia mobile mathematics project consultant Ms Riitta Vanska the project will start with up to 10 schools based in Dar es Salaam.

The Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE) together with Ministry of Education will select the schools.  The Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE) is working on localizing the content.

Ms Riitta Vanska says the program was first introduced in South Africa in 2008 and it has reached more than 60,000 learners in the Country.

Though environment for learning mathematics in Tanzania and South Africa can not be the same, to some extent this program can be very useful in our country as most of Tanzanian students prefer mobile phone applications.

Lilian Nganda is a Microsoft representative, She says the program has no intention of allowing Mobile phones in schools so that it can reduce concentration of studies to students.

She says, the program aims at giving possibility for learners to get additional help for their studies outside classrooms and outside school through a mobile device.

She insisted that there will be a special day in a week where trained teachers will allow students to take their mobile phones and practice the program.

Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology, Hon John Mgodo, declares that Nokia Mobile Mathematic is a great assistance to students who fail to understand mathematics inside their classrooms.

He says basic sciences are the foundation for the next generation of engineers and ICT professionals and you can’t opt for them without mathematics.

“I believe that the mastery of mathematics subject leads to the mastery of other science subjects including Physics, Chemistry and Biology’’ Hon Mgodo insists during the launching ceremony of the Program

Hon Mgodo adds that the Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology is very committed to leverage the programme for sustainable mathematic learning in the country.

Telecommunication sector is undergoing drastic changes. With the uses of Mobile Phones to learn Mathematics, General Manager for Tigo Tanzania Mr Diego Gutierrez believes the Tanzanian country has a chance of doing wonders not only in mathematics but also in telecommunication industry.

Mr Gutierrez says his company is keen to support Government initiatives of supporting young people and Tanzanians who are interested in learning through mobile applications and internet services. He promises to continue providing free data for that program.

He also warns Tanzania students to make good use of Mobile phones and internet services. “Instead of spending high time chatting or texting, you better use the Nokia Mobile Mathematics for improving mathematics capabilities”, he urged.

Dr Hassan Mshinda, COSTECH’s Director General notes that the application can play a significant role in improving the education system in Tanzania and his commission will look for ways to motivate students to science subjects.

“Effective use of mobile application program can improve mathematic skills and eventually increase the number of scientists in the future,” he insisted
Tanzania is a second African country to introduce the Mobile Mathematic.

The same project started in South Africa in 2008 and it has reached more than 60,000 learners in the country.

In South Africa research shows that the competence levels of the users have improved for 14% compared to learners who were not using the service.

Learners interest towards Mathematics is growing, learners are more aware of their skills in Mathematics, teachers are more aware of their learners’ skills in the subject.

Resource: ippmedia.com

Science, Technology, Engineering And Mathematics Exploration Centre Fully Operational

CYBERJAYA, Oct 16 (Bernama) -- The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Exploration Centre is ready to train parents in the field of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) to allow them to monitor their children's activities.

Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) Talent Division director Muhammad Imran Kunalan Abdullah said parents require this training as today's children are well exposed to the Internet.

"We are well aware that children are more exposed to technology than their parents. We need to train and guide parents so they know what their children are doing.

"STEM is not only a training centre for children but also for parents and teachers," he told reporters after the lauching of the STEM Exploration Centre by Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek here Thursday.

He said STEM will be extended nationwide, adopting a centre of excellence concept in each state.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Shabery said currently 40 per cent of the overall workforce in Malaysia were made up those working in ICT and this number needs to increase so that the country can reach its goal of becoming a developed and high-income nation.

MDeC launched the Stem Exploration Centre under its ICT As A Career of Choice Campaign with the aim to boost student enrolment into STEM courses to meet Malaysia's demand for knowledge workers.

The STEM Exploration Centre is equipped with technical tools and training kits provided by technology partners including IBM, Microsoft, Freescale, Keysight Technologies and Oracle.

The centre will serve to inspire youths and students interests on the various job opportunities within ICT industry which will in turn drive a new generation of innovators that can spur Malaysia's developed digital economy aspirations in the long term.

The STEM Exploration Centre is targetted to serve the public by providing hands-on workshops designed to ignite and grow children's interest with special emphasis on ICT which include weekend and night classes and school holiday programmes.

Resource: bernama.com

New App used for teaching Mathematics and Geosciences at GUtech

Barka: A team of internationally recognized professors and enthusiastic lecturers of the Faculty of Science at the German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) have tested a classroom mobile phone app named 'RWTH Aachen App' with over 200 GUtech students at the start of the academic term recently.

This app was developed by a team of Computer Scientists and Engineers at GUtech's parent-university, RWTH Aachen University in Germany. These so-called blended learning activities are part of a project between GUtech and RWTH Aachen University, initiated by Prof. Dr. Modigell, Rector of GUtech and different professors from RWTH Aachen.

The project is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

"The app allows us to receive immediate feedback from the students, which is extremely important in courses attended by hundreds of students. This new and very handy app steers the classroom interaction to a new level and allows, in its sphere of applicability, for tailored answers optimized to the very needs of the students to understand a topic," explained Prof. Dr. Bernhard Heim, Dean of the Faculty of Science at GUtech.

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The 'RWTH Aachen App' transforms the lecture hall into a quiz show without corrupting the academic integrity of the lecture. In such a way simple multiple choice questions can be addressed to the auditorium and the students, who can vote anonymously on their mobile devices.

"We realized that this app increases the return rate as the students do not experience any fear if they give wrong answers.

Moreover, it's a lot of fun," said Prof. Dr. Florian Rupp, who teaches two mathematics classes "Math I" and "Math III" along with Prof. Bernhard Heim. Furthermore, the course "Rocks & Minerals" given by Prof. Dr. Michaela Bernecker of the Department of Applied Geosciences applies this new App as an effective way of modern communication.

"I think this is the first time we are not blamed when we use our smart phones during the lecture," one of the students commented, while adding: "It is also great that we are now able to write short messages to the professor to tell him that we need more explanations without disturbing the others".

Once the question is closed a histogram of the answers is displayed to the students and the correct answers can be discussed as well as the remaining choices.

"The real charm of this student-teacher interaction is that we the professors and lecturers can exactly see the number of students who think that an answer is correct. Usually there is a huge mass of undecided students who are now more motivated to vouch for their opinion in the anonymity of the cloud.

In particular we can explain in depth the misconception of many students and not the usual "please raise your hands" approach, having to balance the expositions," said Prof. Dr. Bernhard

"The large classes we are facing in modern technical universities somehow alienate us from our students", Prof. Bernhard starts to mention another benefit of the app: "the new app now enables us to focus on the individual student.

Think of a short calculation you do as a student in a course of over 100 participants and you want to discuss your solution with the teacher or the class.

Now, you take a photo with your smart phone which is immediately uploaded and if interesting for all can be spontaneously displayed via a projector and is discussed in a flash".

Resource: New App used for teaching Mathematics and Geosciences at GUtech

Adding Mathematics to the Biological Equation

Mathematics can be used to express a variety of phenomena; a masterful Mozart sonata, for example, can be represented as an elaborate sequence of longitudinal pressure waves or acoustic wave functions; the flowering of an artichoke leaf conforms to a pattern known as a Fibonacci sequence. In addition to predictably describing sound and other physical properties of our universe, however, mathematics can provide novel insight into biological conundrums otherwise inaccessible by experimental instrumentation.

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Paul J. Atzberger, a UC Santa Barbara mathematics and mechanical engineering professor, recently co-authored a series of publications developing numerical methods for describing fluid dynamics and particle diffusion within lipid bilayers. These double-layered structures envelop cells into active biochemical compartments, insulating the turbulent inner chemistry of the cell and regulating the entry of foreign substances from the surrounding environment.
According to Atzberger, computer-generated models fill in the missing pieces of human computation.

“Recently there has been this trend where computation is serving as a bridge between theoretical methods and what the experimentalists do,” Atzberger said. “Overall, mathematics can play an important role in providing a new language or set of tools that can be used either to understand experimental data or to perform simulations that provide further insight into theory that you cannot derive by pen and paper calculations.”

In a recent Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) publication, Professor Atzberger and graduate student Jon Karl Sigurdsson worked in collaboration with experimentalists Patricia Bassereau and David Lacoste at the Institut Curie in Paris to mathematically characterize protein diffusion within the viscous membrane of cells. Understanding this mechanism is critically important in cell biology, where features of the membrane and their effects on diffusivity have downstream implications on many cellular processes.

Existing models of diffusivity stage protein-membrane interactions as a cylindrical shells buoying across a two-dimensional fluid. Consequentially, this approximation only accounts for protein size and the surrounding bulk flow on the overall rate of diffusivity. Interestingly, however, it has been suspected that the local membrane deformation induced by protein shape may factor overall into the ways it can move through the bilayer.

“If the protein diffusion depended upon these additional geometric factors that are not included in classical models, you should see a difference between proteins which are inducing some kind of local curvature versus proteins that are not,” Atzberger said.

In order to test the hypothesis, the experimenters used a technique known as micropipette aspiration in order to tug on a membrane vesicle, producing a tension across the immobilized bilayer. In order to analyze the effect on diffusivity, proteins were subjected to single molecule tracking and pegged with quantum dots, a sort of sticky fluorescent marker

The group found that, in the case of proteins not conforming to the idealized cylindrical shape, diffusivity changed as a function of the tension produced on the vesicle, revealing that local membrane disruptions caused by protein shape on cannot be ignored in models predicting its trajectory.

Professor Atzberger continues to work in similar cross-disciplinary settings, recently collaborating with UCSB’s interdepartmental graduate program in biomolecular science and engineering to simulate the formation of substrate anchored membranes known as single lipid bilayer (SLB) formation.

In a follow-up paper to the published investigation, Atzberger implemented models to the quantitative data gathered by graduate student Kim Weirich in order to determine the accuracy of the picture portrayed by the experimentalists. In the original article, it was hypothesized that, once the first vesicle ruptured onto the substrate, a disk would form and drive expansion of the membrane via a sticky-edge mechanism.

“What we found is that the story was a lot more subtle, and it seemed that you needed a critical concentration of vesicles even before you had an initial rupture event,” Atzberger said. “You did not just get one big island growing, but rather a multitude of small islands that grow and then merge in parallel.”

Atzberger and his team plan to continue investigating how the deformation of lipid bilayers by proteins affects protein diffusion and characteristics, as well as investigating other biological trends using mathematical models.

Resource: dailynexus.com

US awards for Indian-born Stanford scientist Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj and mathematics scholar Himanshu Asnani

Bangalore, Oct 4: Indian-born scientist Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj and mathematics scholar Himanshu Asnani at Stanford University in the Silicon Valley have been awarded prizes by Marconi Society in Washington. Paulraj, 69, was honoured with the prestigious award for his pioneering work on developing wireless technology to transmit and receive data at high speed.

Asnani, 27, received the Society’s Paul Baran young scholar award for contributing to point-to-point and multi-terminal channel coding and source coding problems. Named after radio inventor and Nobel laureate Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937), Marconi Society awards annually individuals whose work and influence emulate the principle of creativity in service to humanity.

Marconi’s daughter Gioia Marconi Braga had set up the society in 1974 through an endowment. Paulraj donated his cash prize of $100,000 (Rs.60 lakh) to the Society’s young scholar programme. Asnani was also presented with a cash prize of $4,000 (Rs.2.4 lakh).

Indian-born American scientist and Hitachi America professor of engineering, emeritus at Stanford Thomas Kailath presented the awards to the achievers. ”It has been a privilege to have known Paulraj as a student, a research fellow and a warm colleague for many years,” Pune-born Kailath said at the award ceremony.

After receiving the award, Paulraj said the society was playing a key role through recognition and scholarships to enhance social, economic and cultural values. ”As it’s an honour to be named a fellow of Marconi Society, I will do best to be worthy of it. This is the highest recognition in the ICT (information and communications technology), which is significant for India’s growth,” Paulraj said.

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Overwhelmed by the honour at a young age, Asnani credited his parents and teachers for their love and guidance during his career pursuit. ”I dedicate this award to my mentor and spiritual guide Srila Prabhupada, founder of Iskon (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) and whose teachings had a great impact in my life,” Asnani asserted. ”Wisdom of the east should come together with the technology of the west to create a spirit of selfless giving to society and humanity at large,” Asnani observed.

Paulraj joins a select group of IT pioneers who received the Marconi prize in past such as World Wide Web (WWW) creator Tin Berners-Lee, father of internet Vint Cerf, Google co-founder Larry Page and mobile phone developer Martin Cooper. ”To have three generations of Indian achievers in ICT — Kailath, Paulraj and Asnani — at an event is a testament to theAcontribution Indians are making at the cutting-edgeAof technology,” IndiaTechOnline.com editor Anand Parthasaraty told IANS here Saturday.

Indian Consul General at San Francisco N. Parthasarathi and Indian-born Microsoft researcher Aakanksha Chowdhery, first woman to receive the Marconi young scholar award in 2012, participated in the award ceremony. ”Paulraj’s contributions to wireless technology and the resulting benefit to humankind, are indisputable. Every WiFi (wireless fidelity) router and 4G phone uses Multiple Input-Multiple Output (MIMO) technology pioneered by him,” Society chairman David Payne said at the event.

MIMO boosts data rate by creating multiple parallel spatial data streams and is the key to the latest wireless broadband networks like 4G cellular. Born in Coimbatore in northwest Tamil Nadu, about 360 km from here, Paulraj was also honoured with the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal in 2011 for his profound work on theoretical foundations of MIMO.

Asnani, who hails from Kota in Rajasthan, is also a system engineer at the Swedish telecom major’s R&D centre in the Silicon Valley, off the US west coast, besides pursuing doctorate in mathematics at Stanford University’s Electrical Engineering School. Graduating from IIT-Bombay in electrical engineering in 2009, Asnani went to the US to do his masters at Stanford and enrolled for PhD.

Resource:US awards for Indian-born Stanford scientist Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj and mathematics scholar Himanshu Asnani

National Meet on Mathematics

KOCHI: A three-day UGC sponsored national conference on Mathematics will be organised at Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakkara, from  Thursday to Saturday.

There will be classes and discussions on ‘Recent Trends in Applicable Mathematics’ in the meet organised by the Centre for Postgraduate Studies and Research, Mathematics Department, in collaboration with the Kerala Mathematical Association.

Nearly 150 mathematicians and research students will participate. Around 30 papers on recent trends in applicable Mathematics will be presented, said Rosa M V, convenor, and K O Peter, Head of the department.

Resource:- National Meet on Mathematics

Channing Tatum to play man made a mathematics genius by brain injury

Struck By Genius will dramatise life story of Jason Padgett, who became expert in mathematical geometry after he was mugged

Channing Tatum: consolidating drama pedigree. Photograph: Snap Stills/Rex Features

Channing Tatum is set play a young man who becomes an overnight maths genius at the age of 31 after being attacked, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The Magic Mike star is attached to a proposed big screen adaptation of the book Struck By Genius, by Jason Padgett and Maureen Ann Seaberg. The memoir recounts how a violent mugging changed Padgett’s life forever: he had been an extrovert, fun-seeking college dropout scraping a living as a struggling futon salesman. Following the attack he developed acquired savant syndrome, which manifested via a newfound ability to understand complex maths and physics concepts. Padgett now works as an artist illustrating the complex geometric shapes he sees all around him.

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Studio Sony has picked up the rights to Struck By Genius, and the film is being developed as a potential acting vehicle for Tatum. The actor has increasingly been eyeing dramatic roles after making his name in comedy and action fare. Earlier this year he followed up a critically acclaimed turn in Magic Mike with a well-received performance in the Cannes hit Foxcatcher, also a biographical drama.

Resource:-Channing Tatum to play man made a mathematics genius by brain injury

Math Professor Wins 'Genius' Grant

Mathematics professor Jacob A. Lurie ’00 was named a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, a prize commonly referred to as the “Genius Grant,” on Wednesday.

Lurie COURTESY OF THE HARVARD GAZETTE
Mathematics professor Jacob A. Lurie ’00 was named a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, a prize commonly referred to as the “Genius Grant,” Wednesday.
Lurie was among the 21 fellows named by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for 2014. Each fellow will receive a no-strings-attached stipend of $625,000 for outstanding contribution to his or her field.

According to the Foundation’s website, the MacArthur Fellows Program “recognizes 21 exceptionally creative individuals with a track record of achievement and the potential for significant contributions in the future.”

Lurie's work, a statement on the foundation's website read, "is more than just a philosophical endeavor; he includes hard theorems in his foundations, developing theory to the point that deep new results become the corollary of a general and powerful framework.”

Lurie studies derived algebraic geometry, a field of mathematics which he said explores “what happens when there is redundancy in polynomial equations."

He said the award was “completely unexpected.”

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“It does seem pretty random,” Lurie said. “I had no idea that they even give it to mathematicians.”

Lurie studied mathematics at Harvard College before pursuing his doctorate studies at MIT. He then returned to Harvard as a Mathematics professor in 2008 at age 31. He has published two books, “Higher Topos Theory” and “Higher Algebra,” as well as a number of papers.

Lurie, who now teaches Math 281: “Algebraic K-theory and Manifold Topology," said that he has long been intrigued by the “beautiful questions and answers” in the field of mathematics.

He said that he thinks math professors should teach more about the history of mathematics in their undergraduate classes.

“It ought to be possible to make mathematics seem more like a living subject where a lot of conceptual advances have been made over the years,” Lurie said. “It’s interesting that sciences in general are taught with a lot of the history stripped out. I think you lose a lot [by doing so].”

Benedict H. Gross, another Mathematics professor, called Lurie “a real visionary” in the field.

“He laid the foundation for a whole new subject and created his own field,” Gross said.

Gross taught Lurie when he was an undergraduate at the College and also supervised his senior thesis.

“His [undergraduate] thesis was equivalent to the very best Ph.D thesis,” Gross said, adding that it was a pleasure to work with Lurie.

The fellowship was also awarded to three other Harvard alumni: documentary filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer ’96, social psychologist Jennifer L. Eberhardt, who graduated from the Graduate School of Education in 1993, and computer scientist Craig B. Gentry, who graduated from the Law School in 1998.

—Staff Writer Zara Zhang can be contacted at zara.zhang@thecrimson.com.

Resource:Math Professor Wins 'Genius' Grant

Sustainable development unrealistic without mathematics education —MAN

President, Mathematical Association of Nigeria (MAN), Professor Mohammed Ibrahim, has said that sustainable development may not be realised in Nigeria without Mathematics education.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin, on Tuesday, Professor Ibrahim, who is also the director, Centre for International Education at the University of Ilorin, said government should emphasise importance of Mathematics as a tool to national development.

“Through Mathematics education, Nigeria will produce creative, resourceful and innovative people for national development and more attention should be given to provision of learning-friendly environment,” he said.

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Also, the MAN, in a communique issued at the end of its 51st annual national conference in Ilorin, observed that Mathematics education is facing serious challenges, saying that little emphasis is placed on the motivation of Mathematics teachers in schools.

The association also recommended that government should re-engineer science and Mathematics education through provision of Mathematics laboratories and instructional materials to primary schools and colleges.

It also said that parents should encourage knowledge of Mathematics from early stage to adulthood, including special children, adding that teachers should use functional and interactive approach in the teaching of Mathematics to develop love for the subject.

The association, which called for employment of Mathematics teachers to remedy short supply of Mathematics teachers in schools, added that teachers of Mathematics should be encouraged to attend international conferences to enhance their professional development.

Resource:-Sustainable development unrealistic without mathematics education —MAN

Now, UPSR English papers leaked; other papers in doubt

Education Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh has ordered both the papers to be retaken. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 — The Education Ministry confirmed today that the UPSR English Papers 1 and 2 have been leaked ahead of testing, fuelling doubts over the integrity of the entire primary level assessment.

According to state news agency Bernama, Education Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh has ordered both the papers to be retaken.

Idris said the Education Ministry verified the leaks at 11am today, The Star Online reported.

The leaked papers carry the code 014/1 and 014/2, which are papers meant for those in the national schools, while the papers meant for vernacular schools have not been affected.

The students were initially scheduled to sit for these papers at 10.30 am and 12.20 pm today.

No new date has been fixed for the re-testing of the national English test for primary school students.

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“If possible, we’re aiming to have the re-sit on Sept 30, the same day as the rescheduled Science papers,” Idris was quoted saying by The Star Online.

The minister also apologised to the students sitting for UPSR and their parents, besides pledging to take stern action against the culprits.

In a tweet by New Straits Times, the local daily said Idris confirmed that an independent committee has been set up to prevent future leaking of examination papers.

Yesterday, the Examinations Syndicate publicly denied rumours that the UPSR English papers have been leaked.

“All Year Six UPSR English papers and Aptitude Tests on September 11, 2014 will carry on as scheduled,” it said in a brief statement online.

It is unclear how badly the UPSR tests have been compromised following the latest confirmed leak.

Astro Awani reported yesterday of a teacher who claimed to have received UPSR Mathematics examination papers about half an hour before the test on Wednesday morning.

The teacher also alleged that others had received the Mathematics paper on Tuesday afternoon, but Astro Awani said the Examinations Syndicate has declined to comment on this claim.

Today, Malay Mail reported that it has received a copy of handwritten answers for the UPSR Malay language comprehensive paper, which was purportedly given out to students on Monday night, less than 24 hours before the test.

When asked to respond to claims that the Malay language and Mathematics papers were leaked, Idris reportedly said such allegations were unsubstantiated.

“We cannot simply announce such leaks without investigating the matter, these (English and Science) are the only papers proven to have leaks,” The Star Online quote him as saying.

This follows yesterday’s announcement by the Examinations Syndicate that the UPSR Science papers were leaked. It subsequently postponed the test to September 30.

Resource: UPSR English papers leaked; other papers in doubt