Marcus Wilson • Mar 14, 2017 •
A couple of hours ago I gave a talk to the ‘education group’ in the Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Western Australia. Broadly speaking, the audience was a group of physicists and engineers who are interested in education. I recycled a talk that I’d given a couple of years ago on the role of mathematics … Read More
Guest Work • Jan 28, 2016 •
Margaret Wertheim, University of Melbourne We have built a world of largely straight lines – the houses we live in, the skyscrapers we work in and the streets we drive on our daily commutes. Yet outside our boxes, nature teams with frilly, crenellated forms, from the fluted surfaces of lettuces and fungi to the frilled skirts of sea … Read More
Marcus Wilson • Dec 12, 2014 •
In the last couple of weeks, I've been using Hermite Polynomials in my work. I won't go into what they are (look them up here if you like) suffice to say that they are one of many contributions to mathematics from Charles Hermite (1822-1901), who was himself one of many french mathematicians whose work has … Read More
Lynley Hargreaves • Nov 19, 2014 •
Dr Michael PlankThrow the small fish back, so they can grow and reproduce. So goes conventional scientific wisdom, as well as most of the world’s fishing regulations. But research – including Marsden-funded mathematical models by the University of Canterbury’s Michael Plank – is now showing that we should be catching more small fry, and letting the big fish go … Read More
Marcus Wilson • Sep 30, 2014 •
A few weeks ago I commented on a task our second year software-engineering students are doing: building robots to follow a white line with the Lego 'Mindstorm' kit. It's been entertaining watching their various attempts and their design selections. Most groups have pretty-well optimized their robot now, and there's some final tweaking going on, ahead of our … Read More
John Pickering • Sep 18, 2014 •
No one understands the electoral maths of the NZ electoral system including the electoral commission apparently. Last night I put the latest figures from the “Poll of Polls” into the electoral commission calculator and I discovered the calculator was broken! I put the figures in with United Future winning one electorate seat, but when it crunched … Continue reading → … Read More
Marcus Wilson • May 21, 2014 •
No, nothing to do with carrots and vitamin A I'm afraid. With dark evenings and mornings with us now :(, Benjamin's become interested in the dark. It's dark after he's finished tea, and he likes to be taken outside to see the dark, the moon, and stars, before his bath. "See dark" has become a predictable request after … Read More
Michael Edmonds • Oct 13, 2013 •
At work recently we have been discussing which achievement stands best prepare students for careers in engineering (and the physical sciences). Some of this discussion comes out of the fact we often have students applying for entry to study in engineering* programmes with what, superficially, looks like the right number of credits – however, when we dig a bit deeper … Read More
Marcus Wilson • May 24, 2013 •
One thing that's become really clear to me in teaching physics is that dimensions and units are not straightforward concepts for students. I might hazard the assertion that they are 'threshold concepts' - ones where grasping what they are about transforms you way of thinking. Most people at least half-understand the idea of units - if we measure … Read More
Aimee Whitcroft • Oct 16, 2012 •
Today, October 16th, is Ada Lovelace Day. Ada Lovelace, for those who didn’t already know (and you all do, right? * wink *), also called Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, is one of the shining stars in mathematics and… Read more › … Read More