First Einstein Public Lecture in Mathematics

September 20, 2005

Providence, RI—The first Einstein Public Lecture in Mathematics, The Nature of Space , by Sir Michael Atiyah, will take place on Friday, October 21, 2005, from 4:00 to 5:00 in Kimball Recital Hall at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The lecture is in celebration of the centennial of Einstein’s annus mirabilis and is taking place during the AMS Sectional Meeting at the University. This first Einstein Public Lecture in Mathematics is aimed at members of the general public. Admission is free.

Sir Michael Atiyah has won numerous awards and honors. In May 2004 he was presented the Abel Prize in Mathematics (worth almost one million dollars) with I. M. Singer for the “discovery and proof of the Index Theorem connecting geometry and analysis in a surprising way” and for an “outstanding role in building new bridges between mathematics and theoretical physics.” He was knighted in 1983 and made a member of the Order of Merit in 1992. In addition, he has served as director of the Newton Institute, Master of Trinity College at Cambridge, and president of the Royal Society of London.

Along with being an outstanding researcher, Sir Michael is a wonderful expositor. In this lecture he will review the history and present status of the quest by philosophers, mathematicians and physicists to understand the nature of space.

More information about the lecture is available online.

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Founded in 1888 to further mathematical research and scholarship, the 30,000-member American Mathematical Society fulfills its mission through programs and services that promote mathematical research and its uses, strengthen mathematical education, and foster awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and to everyday life.