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Mathematician-Humorist Adams
Spins a Knotical Yarn
Contact: Barbara Stambaugh, Media Relations Manager
Email: stambaughb@denison.edu
Phone: (740) 587-8575
Updated: March 19, 2008

GRANVILLE—Mathematician and humorist Colin Adams will lecture as Sir Randolph Bacon III, presenting “Blown Away: What Knot to do When Sailing,” at 7:30 p.m., on Thursday, March 27, in the Burton D. Morgan Center lecture hall (150 Ridge Road). No nautical or mathematical background will be needed to enjoy this lecture, though a sense of humor will be helpful. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Adams is the Francis Christopher Oakley Third Century Professor of Mathematics at Williams College. He received his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1983. He is particularly interested in the mathematical theory of knots, their applications and their connections with hyperbolic geometry.

Adams has authored a variety of research articles on knot theory and hyperbolic 3-manifolds. He is also known for giving mathematical lectures in the guise of Mel Slugbate, a sleazy real estate agent. Adams is the author of the mathematical humor column called “Mathematically Bent,” which appears in the Mathematical Intelligencer.

This convocation is sponsored by the Gordon Fund named in honor of Doris Gilbert Gordon, a former high-school mathematics teacher and friend of the University.


CALENDAR LISTING: Denison University, Granville—Colin Adams as Sir Randolph Bacon III, lecture: “Blown Away: What Knot to do When Sailing,” at 7:30 p.m., on Thurs., March 27, in the Burton D. Morgan Center lecture hall (150 Ridge Road). The lecture is free and open to the public. Call 740-587-6259 to confirm information.