Mathematical Careers and Ideas:
"Killing the Hydra"
by Simon Thomas
In Mathematical
Careers and Ideas, the mathematics department is offering a series of
talks for undergraduates.
"Killing the Hydra" is the next event in this series. It will be entertaining
and fun, and at the same time it will convey some serious mathematical ideas.
"According to Apollodorus, for his second labor, Hercules was instructed to slay the Hydra, a monster with a hundred necks, each bearing the head of a serpent. Unfortunately, when one head was cut off, the place where it was severed put forth two more, and for this reason the Hydra was considered invincible. Fortunately, the supremely intelligent Hercules devised an ingenious scheme and succeeded in killing the Hydra. In this talk, we shall consider the question of whether a positively stupid Hercules would have been equally successful."
The talk itself will be from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., but students are encouraged to arrive at 6:15 for an opportunity to meet other students who are interested in mathematics.
Wednesday, April 7
Hill Center, room 705, Busch Campus.
All students are welcome---and their professors too.
If you are not on the mailing list for announcements of Mathematical Careers and Ideas, but would like to be, please send mail with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line to ugvcmm@math.rutgers.edu .