[FRIAM] The Birth of Mathematics

[George Duncan]

I will be giving a three-session course entitled The Birth of Mathematics
at Renesan in March. The catalog blurb appears below. Renesan is billed as
an Institute for Lifelong Learning and for many years has offered a range
of courses and lectures in a variety of fields including Art, Current
Events, History, Literature, Music, Performing Arts, Philosophy, Political
Science, and, yes indeed, Mathematics. Classes are held in Santa Fe at St.
John’s United Methodist Church, 1200 Old Pecos Trail. The modest fee is $15
per session. More information and registration details are available at
www.renesan.org. I'd be happy to have FRIAM folk participate!


*MATHEMATICS: S19-01 The Birth of Mathematics*

Instructor:     George Duncan

Dates: Thursday, Mar 14, 21, and 28 at3:15-5:15pm.

3 sessions

Mathematics began tens of thousands of years ago. People energized by both
creative spirit and practical need started to figure with numbers and
diagrams, counting (sheep) and drawing plot plans (temples). Highlighted in
this course are key developments in the early history of mathematics,
examining its roots in both number and shape. Requiring no background in
mathematics, it emphasizes nine breakthrough contributions beginning with
simple counting to nine and moving on to larger counts (even beyond a
million), to numbers like π that do count but are not counts, to algebra
which plays with symbols, to geometry that explores shapes. erstanding the
origins of mathematics gives us confidence that we can grasp the
foundations of the “Queen of the Sciences”. The mathematical concepts are
illustrated with original art work by the instructor.

George Duncan is an artist and a mathematician. He is Emeritus Professor of
Statistics at Carnegie Mellon University. His art work has been shown at
Vivo Contemporary on Canyon Road. It appears in public collections at
several universities and in private collections throughout the US as well
as England and Spain. He earned BS and MS degrees at the University of
Chicago and a PhD at the University of Minnesota. He is a Fellow of the
American Statistical Association, a Fellow of the Royal Statistical
Society, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Museums of New Mexico
Foundation and is a Lead Trustee for the Museum of Art.
George Duncan
Emeritus Professor of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University
georgeduncanart.com
See posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Land: (505) 983-6895
Mobile: (505) 469-4671

My art theme: Dynamic exposition of the tension between matrix order and
luminous chaos.

"Attempt what is not certain. Certainty may or may not come later. It may
then be a valuable delusion."
>From "Notes to myself on beginning a painting" by Richard Diebenkorn.

"It's that knife-edge of uncertainty where we come alive to our truest
power." Joanna Macy.
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