[PAST EVENT] Mathematics Colloquium:  Stephen Abbott (Middlebury College)

February 2, 2024
2pm - 3pm
Location
Small Hall, Room 110
300 Ukrop Way
Williamsburg, VA 23185Map this location
Access & Features
  • Free food
  • Open to the public
indoors, inside, people, isc, integrated science center, presentations, podiums, faculty, audiences

Turning Theorems into Plays

Abstract: The plot of Arcadia, Tom Stoppard’s highly acclaimed play from 1993, winds through Fermat’s Last Theorem, chaos theory, fractal geometry, and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Five years later, Michael Frayn’s award-winning play Copenhagen brought its audience face to face with quantum uncertainty. The success of these high-profile examples became a catalyst for other adventurous playwrights to look to mathematics, and science more generally, for artistic inspiration. We will take a guided tour of a handful of these plays from recent decades to experience first-hand how Stoppard, Frayn, Simon McBurney and others transported the power of abstract mathematics onto the human stage.

 Refreshments will be provided outside of Jones 100 starting at 1:30 pm.



Sponsored by: Mathematics

Contact

Pierre Clare