On a cold December night in 1976, a group of mathematicians assembled in a room in Trinity College Dublin for the inaugural meeting of the Irish Mathematical Society (IMS). Most European countries already had such societies, several going back hundreds of years, and it was felt that the establishment of an Irish society to promote the subject, foster research and support teaching of mathematics was timely [TM218 or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].
Posts Tagged 'Ireland'
The Social Side of Mathematics
Published September 2, 2021 Irish Times ClosedTags: Education, Ireland
Changing Views on the Age of the Earth
Published August 19, 2021 Irish Times ClosedTags: Geophysics, History, Ireland
[Image credit: NASA]
John Casey: a Founder of Modern Geometry
Published May 7, 2020 Irish Times ClosedTags: Geometry, Ireland
John Casey (1820-1891).
Next Tuesday – 12th May – is the 200th anniversary of the birth of John Casey, a notable Irish geometer. Casey was born in 1820 in Kilbeheny, Co Limerick. He was educated in nearby Mitchelstown, where he showed great aptitude for mathematics and also had a gift for languages. He became a mathematics teacher, first in Tipperary Town and later in Kilkenny [TM186; or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com ].
Learning Maths without even Trying
Published July 18, 2019 Irish Times ClosedTags: Education, Ireland, Recreational Maths
Children have an almost limitless capacity to absorb knowledge if it is presented in an appealing and entertaining manner. Mathematics can be daunting, but it is possible to convey key ideas visually so that they are instantly accessible. Visiting Explorium recently, I saw such a visual display demonstrating the theorem of Pythagoras, which, according to Jacob Bronowski, “remains the most important single theorem in the whole of mathematics” [TM167 or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].
Learning Maths has never been Easier
Published October 19, 2017 Irish Times ClosedTags: Education, Ireland, Recreational Maths
Maths is hard: many people find it inscrutable and have negative attitudes towards maths. They may have bad memories of school maths or have been told they lack mathematical talents. This is unfortunate: we all have the capacity to apply reasoning and logic and we can all do maths. Given the vital role mathematics plays in modern society, there is an urgent need to help young people to become more numerate and comfortable with mathematics. With a wealth of online resources, learning maths has never been easier. [TM125 or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].
Eoin Gill and Sheila Donegan with Jadine Rock of Rutland National School, Dublin , at the launch of Maths Week Ireland. Image: Shane O’Neill, SON Photographic.
Robert Murphy, a “Brilliant Meteor”
Published July 6, 2017 Irish Times ClosedTags: History, Ireland
“A brilliant meteor that flared intensely but all too briefly”; this was how Des MacHale described the Cork-born mathematician Robert Murphy in his biography of George Boole, first professor of mathematics in Cork. Murphy was a strong influence on Boole, who quoted liberally from his publications [see TM118 or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].
William Rowan Hamilton was Ireland’s greatest mathematician. His name is heard thousands of times every day throughout the world when researchers use the Hamiltonian function that encapsulates the dynamics of a vast range of physical systems. He achieved fame early in life and remains one of the all-time great scientists. [TM099, or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].
Computers Speaking in Irish
Published July 21, 2016 Irish Times ClosedTags: Computer Science, Education, Ireland
Most of us use computer terminals, tablets and smart phones, absorbing information quickly and easily. How do the many thousands of Irish people who are blind or visually impaired manage to interact with computers? For them, entering data by keyboard or voice is easy, but special software is needed to convert the text on screen into a form for output to a loudspeaker or headphones, or to drive a refreshable Braille display [TM095, or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].
Braille display (www.humanware.com)
The idea of using two numbers to identify a position on the Earth’s surface is very old. The Greek astronomer Hipparchus (190–120 BC) was the first to specify location using latitude and longitude. However, while latitude could be measured relatively easily, the accurate determination of longitude was more difficult, especially for sailors out of site of land.
OSi Mapviewer. XY coordinates indicated at bottom left.
French philosopher, scientist and mathematician René Descartes demonstrated the power of coordinates and his method of algebraic geometry revolutionized mathematics. It had a profound, unifying effect on pure mathematics and greatly increased the ability of maths to model the physical world.
The Faraday of Statistics
Published May 1, 2014 Irish Times ClosedTags: Ireland, Probability, Statistics
This week, That’s Maths in The Irish Times ( TM044 ) is about the originator of Students t-distribution.
In October 2012 a plaque was unveiled at St Patrick’s National School, Blackrock, to commemorate William Sealy Gosset, who had lived nearby for 22 years. Sir Ronald Fisher, a giant among statisticians, called Gosset “The Faraday of Statistics”, recognising his ability to grasp general principles and apply them to problems of practical significance.
Plaque at St Patrick’s National School, Hollypark, Blackrock, where William Gosset lived from 1913 to 1935.
Euclid in Technicolor
Published February 20, 2014 Irish Times ClosedTags: Education, Geometry, History, Ireland
The article in this week’s That’s Maths column in the Irish Times ( TM039 ) is about Oliver Byrne’s amazing technicolor Elements of Euclid, recently re-published by Taschen.
Ireland’s Fractal Coastline
Published December 12, 2013 Occasional ClosedTags: Fractals, Ireland, Maps
Reports of the length of Ireland’s coastline vary widely. The World Factbook of the Central Intelligence Agency gives a length of 1448 km. The Ordnance Survey of Ireland has a value of 3,171 km (http://www.osi.ie). The World Resources Institute, using data from the United States Defense Mapping Agency, gives 6,347km (see Wikipedia article [3]).
ThatsMaths 