As the fall semester begins, the Faculty of Mathematics welcomes six first-year students who have already distinguished themselves academically as recipients of the coveted Schulich Leader Scholarship.
In a superficial sense, mathematics is a human construction. 1+1=2 only insofar as we give meaning to numbers and symbols, in a similar way that we give meanings to nouns and verbs in language.
Just in time for the start of the academic year, a new campus-wide student program is coming online that aims to help students learn about innovation and kickstart their careers.
Researchers from the Cheriton School of Computer Science are working on new systems that increase the correctness and reliability of health-related searches.
Mathematicians and theoretical physicists explore multiple dimensions that go beyond the ones we understand with our common sense.
We can understand the three spatial dimensions as part of our direct lived experience. We can perhaps also understand time as a temporal dimension with some effort, bringing the number of dimensions up to four.
Entrepreneurs are the people who take chances with innovative ideas and business. They make things happen and break new ground.
In the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo, the entrepreneurial spirit is in our DNA. Many of our programs link with entrepreneurship. And numerous startups have grown from the work of our students and professors.
Researchers in applied mathematics have made new discoveries on the hydrology of the Yucatan Peninsula. The research has implications for historical understandings of the Maya civilization, the archaeology of the Yucatan and for present-day climate science as well.
Movies are a cultural mirror that shows us who we are. They reflect our values and aspirations, but also our preconceived notions and assumptions. Movies about math and mathematicians are no different.
For example, many movies featuring mathematicians depict them as savants. The stereotypical savant character ranges from quirky genius to troubled outsider to dangerous deviant.
Mathematics is like a language.
Nowadays, it’s a language with the same symbols and meaning in every place it’s used. A multiplication sign is a multiplication sign everywhere, and everybody agrees on what a multiplication sign means.
But it wasn’t always so.
In the history of mathematics, Hypatia’s legend looms large. She was a woman mathematician in an era when women were not generally seen as academics. She has been called a martyr for truth and reason. And because of the context of her life and death, Hypatia continues to be one of the most enigmatic figures in mathematics.