On Wednesday, April 21, last week, Prof. Sinan Sertöz, of Bilkent's Mathematics Department, delivered an exciting talk entitled “Mathematics: The Gentle Giant” as part of the Library's Lunchtime Lecture series.
Prof. Sertöz began his presentation by attempting to find a common concept for mathematics understandable by all: mathematics is thinking quantitatively about anything in life. His main argument was that, while most academics naturally believe their own scholarly discipline to be of utmost significance and relevance for humanity, he regards mathematics as important as part of a wider, collaborative effort between disciplines. Using examples ranging from an ancient Sumerian land dispute through the journal of Christopher Columbus to the Mars exploration rovers, Prof. Sertöz showed how mathematics- and mathematicians- solve human problems by working with other specialists.
The lecture, given in the Library's Art Gallery to a packed audience, was accompanied by a colorful PowerPoint show and a deliberate avoidance of mathematical formulae and equations! The final Library Lunchtime Lecture for this semester will be the postponed talk by Prof. Halil İnalcık and will take place on May 12.
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