Abstract
This paper is the fifth in a series on the theme of the communication of mathematics in Europe. This episode is located is Pisa and features the monologist and mathematical populariser Eduardo Sáenz de Cabezón. The topics covered in the course of the interview include: how to narrate mathematics in a show; how to reconcile research, communication and teaching; the communication of mathematics in Spain; the importance of training to be effective communicators; the interdisciplinary approach to communication; and much more. Eduardo and his versatility allow us to savour the wonders of a world in which the contamination between different fields becomes a richness, and the beauty of mathematics and its message are exalted with wisdom and care by the artistic sensibility that guides his popularisation activities.
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Notes
She is currently Emeritus Professor of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Barcelona.
In group theory there are three isomorphism theorems, which apply with suitable modifications also to rings and modules. The theorems were originally formulated by Richard Dedekind (1831–1916) and later made more general by Emmy Noether (1882–1935) in her article “Abstrakter Aufbau der Idealtheorie in algebraischen Zahl- und Funktionenkörpern” (1927) published in Mathematische Annalen. In 1930 they were completely systematised by Bartel Leendert van der Waerden (1903–1996) in his book Modern Algebra, considered as the beginning act of modern Algebra.
Legend has it that this toast was made in Segalari, near Castagneto Carducci (in the province of Livorno), on 19 October 1885 and that the poet Giosue Carducci accompanied each of the six lines drinking a glass of wine.
“La Ventana” is the afternoon radio programme of current events, interviews and humour currently most followed in Spain, hosted by Carles Francino on Cadena SER.
“FameLab” is a competition for scientific monologues launched in 2005 within the Cheltenham Science Festival, in collaboration with NESTA, to find and train scientists and engineers who have a predisposition in communicating science to the general public. In 2007, thanks to the collaboration with the British Council, it became international and ended up reaching more than 30 nations in the world (it arrived in Italy in 2013). It takes the form of a talent show during which the finalists have three minutes to offer the audience a scientific topic of interest that will then be evaluated by a jury consisting of experts from the world of science and communication.
Translator’s note: Literally “Third Mission”, it denotes the universities’ activities in direct contact with the society at large, in parallel with their two traditional missions of teaching and research.
Jorge Wagensberg Lubinski (1948–2018) was an award-winning Catalan teacher, researcher and writer, as well as one of the most famous scientific popularisers in Spain. The book is El pensador intruso: el espíritu interdisciplinario en el mapa del conocimiento (Tusquets Editores, Barcelona 2013).
The halting problem asks whether it is always possible, given an algorithm and a given finite input, to establish whether that algorithm terminates or keeps running indefinitely.
Reference
Timón, Á: ¿Cómo se ha convertido Matemáticas en la carrera universitaria más popular?, El País 26 June (2018). https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/06/25/ciencia/1529923839_750611.html
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Translated from the Italian by Daniele A. Gewurz.
Appendix: Eduardo Sáenz de Cabezón.
Appendix: Eduardo Sáenz de Cabezón.
Eduardo Sáenz de Cabezón was born on 24 June 1972 in Logroño, Spain. In 1996 he graduated in Theology and for the next 9 years he taught at the secondary school IES Duques de Nájera in his hometown. In the meantime, he earned a degree in mathematics and in 2001 became a professor of Computer Languages and Systems at the Department of Mathematics and Computing of the University of La Rioja in Logroño. In 2008 he obtained a doctorate in Computational Algebra and continued his research in the area of the homology of monomial ideals, algorithms and applications. Together with Professor Henry Wynn of the London School of Economics, he developed the area of algebraic reliability and carried out studies and research in algebraic statistics and mathematical models for integrated pest control. He also collaborates with the research group at the University of Genoa that is developing the CoCoA computer algebra system.
He works in the communication and dissemination of mathematics at different levels: university, high school, with the general public and the media. In 2013 he won the FameLab competition for scientific monologues and represented Spain at the international final that takes place every year within the Cheltenham Science Festival in the United Kingdom. The following year he also won the Fundación Aquae competition. In the same year he founded the group of scientific monologists “Big Van: Científicos sobre Ruedas”, which has staged more than 500 performances in Spain and Latin America. He also collaborates as guest, expert or author with several Spanish media: television (Órbita Laika, La aventura del saber, TIPS); radio (SER, Onda Cero, RNE); and the press (Yorokobu, El Confidencial). He is also author and host on the “Derivando” YouTube channel on mathematics, produced by Zeppelin-Endemol.
He was featured in the special twentieth-anniversary issue of Quo Magazine as one of the 101 most creative and brilliant minds in Spain. He is the author of Inteligencia matemática. Descubre al matemático que llevas dentro (Plataforma Editorial, 2016). He is currently engaged in organising courses and workshops on communication and dissemination of mathematics for teachers, researchers and journalists in Argentina, Spain, Mexico and Uruguay.
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Capozucca, A. Communicating mathematics in Europe. Lett Mat Int 6, 251–260 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40329-018-0239-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40329-018-0239-z