Special Events

• Friday, October 15, 1999 Galileo: A Dialog on Science, Mathematics, History and Dramas
  organized by the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in association with the Berkeley Repertory Theatre
  Participants:
  G.V. Coyne, S.J.: Director of the Vatican Observatory
  Robert Osserman: Special Projects Director, MSRI
  Michael Winters: "Galileo" in the Berkeley Repertory Repertory Theatre's "The Life of Galileo", a new English version by David Hare of the play by Bertolt Brecht.

Conversations between Mathematics Teachers and Mathematics Researchers

• April 20, 1998, Kieth Devlin Life by the Numbers
• March 30, 1998, Harriette Stevens The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)
• December 11, 1996, Mel Slugbate (Colin Adams) "Selling Real Estate in Hyperbolic Space: Investment Opportunities for the 90's"

Fermat's Last Theorem

July 28, 1993, Robert Osserman, Lenore Blum, Karl Rubin, Ken Ribet, John Conway, and Lee Dembart. Musical interludes by Morris Bobrow; songs by Tom Lehrer; and moderated by San Francisco Examiner publisher Will Hearst.

• Fermat's Last Theorem - The Theorem and Its Proof: An Exploration of Issues and Ideas

Mathematics and the Media, October 8-10, 1998

• Larry Gonick Making Mathematics Appealing to a General Audience
• Discussion of Larry Gonick's Presentation
• Peter Sarnak Random Matrix Models in Number Theory and Quantum Mechanics
  • Discussion of talk by Peter Sarnak
     (Note: Dan Rockmore has also provided a very useful commentary on this lecture and its mathematical background in "Chance News")
• Zvezdelina Stankova-Frenkel The Bay Area Mathematical Olympiad
• Recent Mathematical Advances
  • Allyn Jackson Recent Mathematical Advances
  • Bernd Sturmfels Grobner Bases
  • Bill Thurston New Geometries
  • Hendrik Lenstra Harmonic Numbers
  • Discussion of Talks by Jackson, Lenstra, Sturmfels, and Thurston.
• Curt Suplee Improving Coverage of Science in Newspapers
• Editors' Criteria for Selection of Math and Science Stories
  Moderator: Ivars Peterson, Mathematics and Physics Editor, Science News
  Panelists: Sharon Begley, Newsweek; Joel Greenberg, Los Angeles Times; Tom Siegfried, Dallas Morning News
• Mathematics in the Broadcast Media
  Moderator: Keith Devlin, Dean, St. Mary's College
  Panelist: David Elisco, Vice President, Startdust Visual;
  Joel Schneider, Vice President for Education and Research, Children's Television Workshop;
  Mary Miller, Senior Science Writer, Exploratorium
• What's Problematic in Undergraduate Mathematics Education?
  Moderator: Lenore Blum, International Computer Science Institute
  Panelists: Mike Beeson, San Jose State University
  Reuben Hersh, University of New Mexico
  Frank Morgan, Williams College, and
  Amy Huston Goetz, IBM
• Mathematics Behind the Scenes
  Moderator: K.C. Cole, Physical Science Writer, Los Angeles Times
  Speakers: Fred Bookstein , Senior Research Scientist, Center For Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan,
  Nicholas Cozzarelli , Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, UC Berkeley,
  Robert Oliver , Director, Fair, Isaac and Co., Inc.,
  William Zame , Professor of Economics, University of California, Los Angeles