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6th
Annual MATH
Film
Festival
in
celebration of Math Awareness Month |
Math
& the
Cosmos
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Tuesday,
April 19th, 2005
UC
Theater |
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"Mathematics is at
the core of our attempts to understand the universe at every level from the
most theoretical to the most mundane."
Films:
2:00 pm Stephen Hawking's
Universe
3:15 pm The Right
Spin
4:00
pm The Shape of Space
4:30 pm Donald in
Mathmagic Land
Play:
5:30 pm Proof
Stephen Hawking's
Universe 2:00
pm
Presents the latest advances in cosmological
thought, including the mathematics of astronomy. Part I: Seeing is believing
will be shown.
The
Right Spin 3:15
pm
In 1997 Michael Foale
was the American astronaut on board the Russian space station Mir at the time
of a failed docking attempt with an unmanned Progress supply ship. The supply
ship collided with Mir, punching a hole in one of the modules of Mir, damaging
a number of the solar panels, and inducing a tumbling motion that prevented the
remaining solar panels from pointing toward the sun. Michael Foale provides his personal account
of the experience, and explains the mathematical methods involved in rescuing
Mir from what would almost certainly have been its demise.
The Shape of Space 4:00
pm
Computer graphics and non-technical language explain ideas of
topology, an area of mathematics important for theorizing about the shape of
the universe. A glimpse of non-Euclidean geometry is provided by showing how a
two-dimensional space a "fundamental domain", may be considered to be
the surface of a torus, with properties different from those of a different
plane. The analogy is extended by showing a cube as a fundamental domain.
Donald in Mathmagic Land 4:30
pm
Donald Duck participates in a remarkable
adventure in Mathmagic Land, where the ancient Greeks tell him about some of
their basic mathematical principles. Donald discovers that mathematics enters
almost every phase of daily life - music, art, architecture, mechanics and
games.
Proof: A Play by
David Auburn 5:30
pm 5:30 pm
Winner of a Tony Award and the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this
play has appeared on Broadway and around the world; it has recently been made
into a movie. Here is what the critics say:
- "An
exhilarating and assured new play, ... accessible and compelling as a
detective story."-- The New York Times
- "Auburn
has taken on some biggies here; what the link may be between genius and
mental instability, why it is that lives get stuck, and how elusive the
truth can be . . . [Proof's] level of accomplishment and the
realness of its characters show that Auburn has both depth and a
voice."--The New Yorker
This dramatic reading is directed by Bob Baker and
stars Marissa Ford, Don Fuhrman, Cassidy Gardenier, and Don Fuhrman.
For more information contact: Jenny McNulty, Math, 2473, George
McRae, Math, 2502.