THE  34th HARRY S. KIEVAL LECTURE

Wednesday, October 27, 1999

7:30 p.m., Founder's Hall 118 

Arthur Benjamin

Associate Professor of Mathematics
Harvey Mudd College
"Mathemagics! The Art of Mental Calculation"
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Professor Benjamin will demonstrate and explain the secrets of rapid mental calculation.  Dr. Benjamin teaches mathematics at Harvey Mudd College and is one of the world's fastest "lightning calculators".  He is the author of several books and the inventor of the "Mathemagics" course.  He has presented his mixture of math and magic to audiences all over the world.
 

Special Mathematics Colloquium
The Best Way to Knock 'em Down

Thursday, October 28, 1999
3:00 p.m.
The Green and Gold Room
Founders' Hall
Post-colloquium tea and reception following colloquium.

``Knock 'em Down'' is a game of dice that is so easy to learn that it is being played in classrooms around the world as a way to develop students' intuition about probability.  However, as our analysis will show, lurking underneath this deceptively simple game are many surprising and highly unintuitive results.

Disclaimer: Professor Benjamin takes no responsibility for any scams or "get rich quick" schemes that students may learn by applying the ideas of this talk!
 


 Professor Arthur Benjamin earned his B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Carnegie Mellon U and his PhD in Mathematical Sciences from Johns Hopkins U where he studied discrete optimization under Alan J. Goldman. Since 1989, he has taught at Harvey Mudd College, where he is currently an associate professor. He is Editor of the Spectrum book series for MAA, and an Associate Editor of Mathematics Magazine.  He was recently selected to receive the MAA's Haimo Award for  Distinguished Teaching. Aside from his research interests in combinatorics and game theory, he enjoys tournament  backgammon, racing calculators, and performing magic.