Math Colloquium

The colloquium's participants include faculty members of the Department of Mathematics, Engineering and Computer Science (MEC) together with invited speakers from different universities. The talks are usually accessible on a variety of levels. Students are welcome.

Refreshments are served before the talks (schedule and abstracts are posted below). For more information, please contact colloquium organizers.

Upcoming Presentation: Joint Event (Math Colloquium and Math Society)

Date: Wednesday, May 1, 2013, Room: M151 (Refreshments will be served at 2:20pm)
Time: 2:30 - 3:30pm.

SPEAKER: Bill Rosenthal (Professor at LaGuardia Community College / CUNY)

Topic: “Why 0.999… Is AND Is Not Equal to 1” (Accessible for a general audience. Students are encouraged to attend.)

Abstract: The question of whether the infinite decimal 0.999… is equal to 1 is highly controversial — a controversy that is ignored in mass-market textbooks, state standards, and school mathematics curricula. This session will bring the question out of the shadows in an interactive and provocative fashion. Those who dare to attend will see evidence from the minds of both students and mathematicians that leads to an inescapable conclusion: It is equally reasonable to believe that 0.999… is equal to 1 and not equal to 1. The presentation will include the presenter’s impassioned plea for paying more attention to infinity in school mathematics.

This session will be understandable to anyone who knows that the fraction 9/9 is equal to 1.

Past Talks

12/12/2012: Nader Goubran (Professor at LaGuardia C.C./CUNY), Measuring Infinite Sets. Abstract
11/07/2012: Jerry G. Ianni (Professor at LaGuardia C.C./CUNY), Mathematical Symmetries in Music Theory and Analysis. Abstract
4/25/2012: Ms. Vanessa Gruen, Daughter of Professor Lars Ahlfors, The life of Lars Ahlfors. With introduction by
Kourosh Tavakoli (MEC, LaGuardia).
11/02/2011: Joseph Malkevitch (Professor, Emeritus, at York College and the Graduate Center/CUNY),
Bankruptcy Problems: Mathematical Insights into Fairness Questions. Abstract
4/6/2011: N. Yanofsky (CUNY, The Graduate Center and Brooklyn College), Scientific limits of Reason.
Abstract