What we’re about
Math Counts is a meetup to engage all things mathematical in a relaxed setting on the fourth Saturday of each month. We strive to make each event accessible to those with rudimentary math skills while also engaging those with more advanced knowledge, so join us no matter what your level of mathematical ability.
Math Counts brings together math aficionados, amateur and professional mathematicians and educators to engage all things mathematical. Our meeting topics range from the elementary to the profound, the practical to the philosophical, and the simple to the complex. Whether we are discussing books or on-line videos, hanging out to discuss recent mathematics news, enjoying mathematics activities, or otherwise imbibing the mathematical, we invite you to join us in a relaxing setting for stimulating polite conversations and activities to participate in the fabric of Philadelphia's vibrant Mathematics tapestry.
Mathematics is surprising, playful, stimulating and profoundly applicable to most aspects of life. Keith Devlin and others call it the science of patterns. Here are some quotes about the subject:
"If the modern world stands on a mathematical foundation, it behooves every thoughtful, educated person to attempt to gain some familiarity with the world of mathematics. Not only with some particular subject, but with the culture of mathematics, with the manner in which mathematicians think and the manner in which they see this world of their own creation."
--- William Byers
"A mathematical theory is not to be considered complete until you have made it so clear that you can explain it to the first man whom you meet on the street." --- An Old French Mathematician quoted by David Hilbert
"But it should always be insisted that a mathematical subject is not to be considered exhausted until it has become intuitively evident."
--- Felix Klein
"I assert only that in every particular Nature-study, only so much real science can be encountered as there is mathematics to be found in it"
--- Immanuel Kant
"The greatest challenge today, not just in cell biology and ecology but in all of science, is the accurate and complete description of complex systems. Scientists have broken down many kinds of systems. They think they know most of the elements and forces. The next task is to reassemble them, at least in mathematical models that capture the key properties of the entire ensembles."
--- E. O. Wilson, Consilience, p.85.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- 4th Saturday Math Meetups: Chess On ManifoldsLink visible for attendees
Chess is a wonderful game enjoyed for centuries by people and mathematicians. It encourages quick thinking as well as develops concepts centering around strategy. Mathematicans have enjoyed the game for centuries because of the ability to calculate the best possible move given the state of the board. We won't be playing chess, but instead we'll be looking at chess puzzles inspired by "Across The Board" by John Watkins. Watkins is a retired professor from Colorado College who did his graduate work on commutative algebra and has worked with Robin Wilson on quite a few books about graph theory. This book looks at the chess board rather than chess as whole and as such demonstrates many solutions in graph theory as it relates to topology and manifolds. Anyone with an interest in chess is welcome to come, as this is an imaginative exercise of chessboards of various shapes and properties.
