Mathematics
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The folklore and mythology concentration saw two of its seven junior concentrators make PBK's "Junior 24," while large concentrations like government and economics saw just one concentrator apiece make the list.
Harvard Places First In Putnam Math Competition
Harvard placed first in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, which is often considered the most prestigious annual college-level math competition in the world, the Mathematical Association of America announced last week.
Math Lovers Celebrate Pi Day
Amidst rowdy campus-wide Housing Day celebrations, a group of math-loving students and professors held a party of their own in the Science Center math common room Thursday to mark Pi Day, the March 14 holiday that represents the first three digits of the mathematical constant pi.
Three-Point-One-Four
The Department of Mathematics celebrated Pi day with cake and refreshments for the community. Pi is used to represent the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, which is approximately 3.14159.
Ben Zauzmer Wins Oscars
With the Academy Awards now over, Flyby caught up with Harvard's very own Oscar guru Ben Zauzmer '15. Zauzmer, who published data predicting the Oscar wins, used available data pertaining to the nominees to predict the likelihood they would go home with an Oscar. Zauzmer tells Flyby how the math matched up to the winning movies.
Harvard's Oscar Guru
Ben T. Zauzmer '15, an Applied Math concentrator in Mather House, gained Internet fame last year for his strikingly accurate predictions of who would win the 2012 Oscars. This year, he's at it again. Using results from similar awards shows, critics' picks, and other available data, Zauzmer runs statistical analyses to determine the probability that nominated movies, directors, or actresses will win in their given categories this Sunday. Flyby sat down with Zauzmer to talk movies and math.
5 New Courses for the Undecided Shopper
Despite all its pluses and perks, shopping period does present Harvard students with one potential problem: buyer's remorse. While students filing into course book mainstays like Ec10 and LS1b pretty much know what to expect from the semester, nothing screams caveat emptor quite like the words "New Course" (and the telltale lack of a Q score) next to a class names. But new courses aren't all bad and often offer students a chance to snag a gem of a class before words gets out and the whole shebang is lotteried the following year. So, for those daring students who are eager to plunge into the great unknown (or who couldn't get into Maria Tatar's fairy tales class), here are five new courses that you might want to check out.
Students Compete in Harvard-MIT Math Tournament
Hundreds of high schoolers flooded the Science Center Saturday to compete in the Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament—a prestigious competition that attracts students from across the country.
SEAS Boasts Advising Based On Classwork, Cake, and Nerdy Camaraderie
As the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has almost doubled in undergraduate enrollment since 2008, the rapidly growing school has maintained a firm commitment to intimate, faculty-led advising.
Harvard Math Team Clinches Putnam
A team of three undergraduates clinched the first place title at the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, the 28th time a Harvard team has won, the Mathematical Association of America announced last week.
Former Student Talks Cartoons
The work of a cartoonist is unique because “one graphic can tell a story,” said Lawrence R. “Larry” Gonick ’67, a Harvard mathematics student who went on to dedicate his career to depicting big ideas through comics.
Freshman O’Dorney Juggles Math and Music
Evan M. O’Dorney ’15 scribbles on a white board in a cramped Canaday single strewn with laundry and empty peanut butter jars. His face lights up as he demonstrates how to identify patterns using colorful, maze-like diagrams that he has constructed.
Math Department To Update Facilities
While science departments across the University vie for state-of-the-art laboratory spaces and new equipment, renovations to the mathematics common room on the fourth floor of the Science Center will give Harvard’s math department increased access to a very different kind of technology come October: blackboards.
CS Will Offer New Class on Discrete Math
The Computer Science Department plans to debut a new course—Computer Science 20: “Discrete Mathematics in Computer Science”— next spring that will better prepare students for the required proof-intensive course CS 121.
