ملف:Is There Magic in Math? (13567781193).jpg

Kicking off April 2014 as Math Awareness Month, NSF’s Division of Mathematical Sciences in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences sponsored a mini-math fair at the agency on April 1, with posters and mathematicians demonstrating math’s more “magical” side. Colm Mulcahy,a professor of mathematics at Spelman College in Atlanta and currently a visiting professor at American University, demonstrated card tricks--based on the birthday paradox and the ice cream flavor trick--that he uses to interest young people in math. Bill Ritchie, a lifelong puzzle enthusiast and co-founder and chief executive officer of ThinkFun, showed off brain-teasing puzzles involving math. Math Awareness Month is sponsored by the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics, the American Mathematical Society, the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and the American Statistical Association. Go to www.mathaware.org/mam/2014/ for a new magical, mysterious topic each day during April. Also, check out this Science Nation video for a “cool” example of math and field research.

Credit: Ellen Weir, NSF