From Order to Chaos: Remaking Math in the Information Age
Most math classes build students’ understanding of — and confidence in — key math frameworks: algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus. This is not one of those classes! We will focus on the opposite: showing how the last century or so of mathematical discoveries have simultaneously shaken the foundations of previous knowledge and reconstructed them alongside the rise of computers.
At the beginning of the 20th century, mathematicians and philosophers seemed poised to create a comprehensive system on which all other scientific knowledge could be built. This confidence was shattered by a rapid-fire series of discoveries that tore down critical assumptions of logic and science and exposed an even more complex, fascinating, and exciting world. This class will make this revolution accessible by investigating three key discoveries of 20th-century math — one of which is a problem yet to be solved!
You’ll leave the class with a cocktail-party-ready understanding of the following (invitations to cocktail parties not included):
- The Incompleteness Theorems
- Chaos theory and computation
- The P vs NP problem and artificial creativity
The class meets in the Digital Commons Dream Lab.
This class is presented in partnership with DC Public Library.
Location
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library
901 G St. NW
Washington,
DC
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Past event