"Applied mathematics: a very short introduction" with Prof Alain Goriely

Past Event

Date
 22 March 2018, 2:15pm - 2:30pm

Location
 Blackwell's Marquee
Marquee in the Quod between the Bodleian, Clarendon building and the Sheldonian, Oxford

I Stock Bart Co Medium
© Istock/BartCo

This book talk is part of the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival 2018, the Oxford Martin School is the Festival Ideas Partner

Oxford University Press is proud to return to the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival with another series of soap box talks from the very short introductions series. These free, 15-minute talks feature expert authors from the series and take place twice a day in the Blackwell’s Marquee, next to the Sheldonian Theatre.

Applied mathematics plays a role in many different fields, especially the sciences and engineering. Professor of mathematical modelling; Director of the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics; and Oxford Martin School Senior Fellow Alain Goriely explains its nature and its relationship to pure mathematics. He illustrates its power in tackling very practical problems through a variety of applications such as mathematical modelling to predict the effects of climate change.

About the speaker

Professor Goriely was Co-Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Solar Energy: Organic Photovoltaics, which was part of the Oxford Martin School from 2010-2015. He remains remains connected with the School through his role as an Oxford Martin Senior Fellow.

Research areas include; methods of applied Mathematics,discrete and continuum mechanics, elasticity, plasticity, application of mechanics and mathematics to biology, mathematical modelling in physics and engineering.

About the book

Mathematics is playing an increasing important role in society and the sciences, enhancing our ability to use models and handle data. While pure mathematics is mostly interested in abstract structures, applied mathematics sits at the interface between this abstract world and the world in which we live. This area of mathematics takes its nourishment from society and science and, in turn, provides a unified way to understand problems arising in diverse fields.

This Very Short Introduction presents a compact yet comprehensive view of the field of applied mathematics, and explores its relationships with (pure) mathematics, science, and engineering. Explaining the nature of applied mathematics, Alain Goriely discusses its early achievements in physics and engineering, and its development as a separate field after World War II. Using historical examples, current applications, and challenges, Goriely illustrates the particular role that mathematics plays in the modern sciences today and its far-reaching potential.