MAA Math Alert - April 2008

News and Views

Margaret Wright and Real World Mathematics
Margaret Wright brought real world problems and the practice of optimization together for her talk, titled "What Can We Say After We Say We're Sorry? or, Adventures in Optimization," on Wednesday, March 5 at the MAA’s Carriage House. Read More

New JSTOR Platform Launches
Frequent users of the scholarly journal archive JSTOR may notice a few changes to its interface. Besides a renovated homepage, new search capabilities and features such as “MyJSTOR” make the new platform easier to use. Read More

American and Frenchman Share 2008 Abel Prize for Mathematics
John Griggs Thompson and Jacques Tits have won the 6 million kroner ($1.2 million, 750,000 Euro) Abel Prize for mathematics for their contributions to group theory. Read More

Aha! A Third-Degree L-Function Has Been Found
A new mathematical object has been discovered —the first example of a third-degree transcendental L-function. This may open up the way to solving the Riemann Hypothesis, which has gone unproven since 1859. Read More

Featured Articles

Launchings by David Bressoud: The National Panel Math Report
On March 13, 2008, The National Mathematics Advisory Panel released its report. The Panel, established by President Bush in 2006, was charged with providing advice to the President and to the Secretary of Education, drawing on “research relating to proven-effective and evidence-based mathematics instruction” in order to recommend policies that will “foster greater knowledge of and improved performance in mathematics among American Students.” Read More

How Euler Did It by Ed Sandifer: A Theorem of Newton
Early in our algebra careers we learn the basic relationship between the coefficients of a monic quadratic polynomial and the roots of that polynomial. Read More

New From the MAA

MAA Launches Math Classifieds
The MAA has launched a new job website featuring a wide spectrum of math-related job listings. You’ll find academic and non-academic employers seeking candidates who have a bachelor’s, master’s, or Ph.D. degree in the mathematical sciences. Read More

Maplesoft and the MAA Launch new Software
Maplesoft and the MAA are pleased to announce a new release of the Maplesoft-MAA Placement Test Suite. Version 3.0 adds features that enhance the delivery, analysis, and administration of placement tests, and also includes the MAA calculator-based tests. Read more

The College Geometry Project
From 1965 - 1971 the National Science Foundation funded a star-studded group of geometers to produce a series of geometry films at the University of Minnesota. The geometers, under the overall direction of Schuster, developed twelve beautiful films over a period of six years. Read More

Hands on History: A Resource for Teaching Mathematics
This volume is a compilation of articles from researchers and educators who use the history of mathematics to facilitate active learning in the classroom. Read More