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Leonhard Euler and Robert Schneider, In Conversation

Last August at MathFest 2007, in a public interview with MAA President Joe Gallian, The Apples in Stereo front man Robert Schneider was asked which historical figure he'd most like to meet. With little hesitation, he answered, "Leonhard Euler."

To round out the 300th anniversary of the great mathematician's birth, the MAA has arranged for the two men to meet and converse at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Diego. This meeting of the centuries will take place on Sunday, Jan. 6, at 6:30 p.m. Rock musician Schneider, who spends much of his time thinking and writing about mathematics, is excited at the prospect of discussing logarithmic scales and his development of a non-Pythagorean musical scale with the famed mathematician, as well as his recent results relating to the prime number theorem.

"Euler is my mathematical hero," Schneider says. At MathFest, "I attended most of the Euler Society meetings and read Euler in Latin. I have to say that the Euler contingent was an exotic group of geniuses who made me feel very welcome."

During his earlier interview with Gallian, Schneider noted, "I'd like to talk with Euler because I think you could just ask, 'What are you working on today, sir?' and he would probably tell you something really cool."

"From what I understand, he was a pretty good time," he added.

Schneider will cap off the session with a short acoustic performance.

id: 
4337
News Date: 
Monday, December 24, 2007