School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Math is famous for its equations, and much of the time it can seem like that’s all mathematics is: following steps to show that what’s on one side of an equation is the same as what’s on the other. In this talk Dr Cheng will show that this is only part of the story, and the boring part to boot. Mathematics isn’t only about showing how numbers and symbols are the same. It isn’t even just about numbers and symbols at all, but a world of shapes, symmetries, logical ideas, and more. And in that world, the boundary between things being equal and unequal is a gray area, or perhaps a rainbow of beautiful, vibrant, subtly nuanced color. She will show that almost everything can be considered similar and different at the same time, whether it’s numbers, graphs, shapes, words, music, or people. It all depends on what features we choose to care about, and it’s up to us what we do about it. Mathematics isn’t a series of rules, facts, or answers: it’s an invitation to a more powerful way of thinking, about anything and everything.
Eugenia Cheng is a mathematician, educator, author, public speaker, concert pianist, artist and composer. She is Scientist in Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, won tenure in Pure Mathematics at the University in Sheffield, and holds a PhD in pure mathematics from the University of Cambridge. She was an early pioneer of math on YouTube and has written nine popular math books including "Beyond Infinity" which was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize, "Is Math Real?" which won the 2024 LA Times Book Prize for Science and Technology. and two children's books. She has given talks and interviews around the world including for the BBC, NPR, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. She wrote the Everyday Math column for the Wall Street Journal for seven years, and has completed several art commissions and song commissions, including one for a GRAMMY nominated album. Her most recent book is "Unequal: The math of when things do and don't add up".