MAA Math Alert - December 2008

News and Views

The MAA’s American Mathematics Competitions invites your college or university to offer the 2009 AMC high school level contest on February 25, 2009. The contest provides an ideal recruiting opportunity and creates a fun outreach activity with minimal effort. For more information, registration and instructions go to AMC at Higher Ed Sites or contact the AMC at amcinfo@maa.org

Joint Mathematics Meetings Comes to Washington, DC
We hope you are planning on joining the Mathematical Association of America at the Joint Mathematics Meetingsin Washington, DC January 5-8, 2009! Register Online
For up-to-date information on the Joint Meetings, as well as local information for Washington, DC, visit the JMM wiki, http://JointMathMeetings.pbwiki.com.

Membership Renewals
Renew your 2009 MAA Membership before December 31, 2008 to be sure your membership benefits continue! Renew online today!

Featured Articles

Browse for Math among Life Magazine's Millions of Photos
Life Magazine’s photo archive, recently made available by Google, contains fascinating images of mathematical people, places, and things. Read More

Three Math Projects Among Siemens Competition Finalists in 2008
Mathematics-based research projects, either individual or tandem, comprised one quarter of this year's dozen Siemens Competition finalists. Eric K. Larson, Ashok Cutkosky, Raphael-Joel Lim, and Mark Zhang earned recognition for their mathematical ventures. Read More

Devlin’s Angle - How Do We Learn Math?
Keith Devlin discusses the “Foundations of Mathematics” and looks at how they are taught. Read More

How Euler Did It - A Forgotten Fermat Problem
Pierre de Fermat left dozens, perhaps even hundreds of problems and conjectures for his successors. This month’s column looks at one of those problems in geometry that Euler solved in 1747 or 1748. Read More

LOCI Convergence - Apportioning Representatives in the United States Congress
In 2010 the United States Census Bureau will once again conduct the decennial census. But apart from the interesting bits of information we will discover, why does the Bureau undertake this daunting task every ten years? It’s because the United States Constitution requires it to calculate each states representation in congress.Read More

New From the MAA

Holiday Gift Ideas and Book Bargains from the MAA
Browse the MAA bookstore to find the perfect holiday gift for all of the math enthusiasts on your list. Read More