The Department of Mathematics is hosting Ben Orlin next Wednesday for an invited talk. Ben is a popular math blogger and author. Please see below and the attached flyer for details. There will be snacks and refreshments provided.

Time/Location: Wednesday 2/12, 4-5pm in CBB 108

Title: Four Mathematical Games That I Can't Stop Thinking About

Abstract: "I'm writing a book about mathematical games. It's really fun to work on. I will teach you several pencil-and-paper games with rich mathematical structure and no known optimal strategy. After that, I will become a kind of human lawn sprinkler, filling the room with a mist of questions, conjectures, and philosophical musings on these games, and the nature of games more broadly."

About the speaker: Ben Orlin is a math teacher and the author of two bestselling cartoon-illustrated books, Math with Bad Drawings: Illuminating the Ideas That Shape Our Reality (2018) and Change is the Only Constant: The Wisdom of Calculus in a Madcap World (2019). His writing has drawn praise from mathematical leaders such as Steve Strogatz, Hannah Fry, Jordan Ellenberg, John Urschel, Zach Weinersmith (creator of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal), and Grant Sanderson (creator of 3Blue1Brown). He truly cannot draw!

On behalf of the Graduate Student Representatives,

Dylan Domel-White