Nagle Lecture Series
2018 Nagle Lecture
Colin C. Adams
BLOWN AWAY: WHAT KNOT TO DO WHEN SAILING
April 12, 2018
Description of the Talk
This story of adventure on the high seas involves great risk to the tale-teller. His understanding of the mathematical theory of knots saved his bacon.
Nautical and mathematical background not required.
Description of the Speaker
Colin Adams is the Thomas J. Read Professor of Mathematics at Williams College. He specializes in the mathematical theory of knots, their applications and their connections with hyperbolic geometry. Among his earliest contributions is his Gieseking Manifold theorem, which describes the unique cusped hyperbolic 3-manifold of smallest volume.
Dr. Adams received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1983.
In addition to his published research, Dr. Adams is the author of “The Knot Book”, which is an elementary introduction to the mathematical theory of knots. Of his humorous publications, the most notable are: “Why Knot?”, a mathematical comic book with an attached toy; “Riot at the Calc Exam”, a book of short math stories; and “Zombies & Calculus”, a mathematical fiction novel. A recipient of the Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Distinguished Teaching Award from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) in 1998; he was a Polya Lecturer for the MAA for 1998-2000, and was the Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer for 2000-2002. Dr. Adams is also a member of the Inaugural Class of AMS Fellows (2013).
The Organizing Committee of the Nagle Lecture Series thanks the USF Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the College of Arts and Sciences for sponsoring this event.