About:

Mathematics has always been part of the fabric of culture. References to mathematics in literature go back at least as far as Aristophanes, and encompass everyone from Tolstoy to Oscar Wilde. In this talk Sarah Hart explored mathematics in literature, discussing  the beautiful algebraic principles governing various forms of poetry, the fractals in Jurassic Park, and the novel whose underlying structure is a mathematical puzzle that took 200 years to solve.
 
 

About the speaker:

Sarah Hart is a mathematician and author. She is Professor of Geometry at Gresham College – the oldest mathematics professorship in the UK, dating back to 1597, and is the first woman ever to hold this chair. She is also Professor Emerita of Mathematics at Birkbeck College (University of London) and President of the British Society for the History of Mathematics. Sarah is particularly interested in the cultural, historical and creative impact of mathematics, and the links between mathematics and the arts. Her book Once Upon a Prime; the Wondrous Connections between Mathematics and Literature was published in April 2023 (HarperCollins).