The Art of Mathematics: Leibniz Lecture with Dr. Günther Ziegler
It's omnipresent, if you know where to look: in the intersection of two bubbles, in the art of Albrecht Dürer, or in the quality of cell phone reception in downtown Berlin. Dr. Günther Ziegler, Professor at the Freie Universität in Berlin, shared this, and many more, "real-life" examples of where mathematics come into play, even for the most numerically averse.
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Dr. Günther Ziegler
(© Stefan Altevogt)
Dr. Ziegler, who at 32 was the youngest professor at Technische Universität (TU) in Berlin when he joined the faculty in 1995, received his PhD from MIT in 1987. Founding chair of the Berlin Mathematical School, Dr. Ziegler is both an accomplished scholar and teacher of mathematics. He received the Leibniz Award in 2001, the highest research award in Germany. Named after the German philosopher, mathematician, physicist, historian and theologian, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, its recipients receive up to 2.5 million Euros to pursue a research project. On April 2, he presented "'Das ist doch keine Kunst!' Ten Images from Mathematics," part of the German Research Foundation (DFG)'s Leibniz Lecture series, which features lectures by Leibniz Award Recipients, at the German House.
In addition to his teaching positions, Dr. Ziegler is also the force behind many efforts to make math appealing to the wider public. The" Year of Mathematics" in Germany in 2008 showed that even math can be fun, a wildly successful year organized around the theme of mathematics that saw 760 events organized by over 500 partners in Germany. It earned him the Communicator Award from the DFG. He is the co-author of "Proofs from THE BOOK," which has been printed in 14 languages, and it is clear from his newest publication, "Darf ich Zahlen? Geschichten aus der Mathematik" (Do I Count? Stories from Mathematics) that Ziegler has quite the knack for explaining.
The lecture, sponsored by the DFG and the German Center for Research and Innovation, was well-timed in anticipation of the Museum of Mathematics, or the MoMath, which will open in Manhattan later this year.
