The Story of Maths: The Frontiers of Space (Screening and Discussion)
By the 17th century, Europe had taken over from the Middle East as the world’s powerhouse of mathematical ideas. Great strides had been made in understanding the perspective geometry of objects fixed in time and space. The race was now on to discover the mathematics and geometries to describe objects in motion.
In this third part of the Story of Math series, Marcus du Sautoy explores the work of René Descartes and his unification of algebra and geometry through analytical geometry, and Pierre Fermat, whose famous Last Theorem would puzzle mathematicians for more than 350 years. He also examines Isaac Newton’s and Gottfried Leibniz’s development of the calculus, and goes in search of Leonard Euler, the father of topology or ‘bendy geometry’, János Bolyai, a founder of hyperbolic geometry, and Carl Friedrich Gauss, who, at the age of 24, was responsible for inventing a new way of handling equations and modular arithmetic. The further contribution of Gauss to non-Euclidean geometry is covered along with Bernhard Riemann’s revolutionary theories of geometric objects and manifolds in multi-dimensional spaces, which also provided the geometric foundations of Einstein’s General Theory of relativity.
The documentary screening will be followed by Q&A Session with Dr. Naqeeb ur Rehman, a mathematician with a PhD earned through the prestigious DAAD research program in Germany. His teaching expertise extends to the university level in the areas of algebra, knot theory, cellular automata, and mathematical philosophy. He has conducted math circles, seminars, and talks across various educational institutions. Besides, he also runs the OpenMathCircle YouTube channel and Facebook page.
This session is free and open to all. Just visit the venue to attend it.
The Black Hole
Plot 5H, Street 100, G-11/3, Islamabad.
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