University of Florida
Math Awareness Month
2001

April is math awareness month, but we jumpstarted with a public lecture by Stanford mathematician and statistian Persi Diaconis entitled On Coincidences.

We are having a Brainteaser Contest with a cash prize for students currently enrolled in algebra, trig, precalculus, calculus 1 and math for liberal arts classes. The Brainteaser is due by 2:00 p.m. on Friday, April 13.

On April 26, we will recognize excellence in scholarship, teaching and service at a tea. The Robert Long Essay Scholarship will be awarded for the best undergraduate and graduate essays in the history and/or philosophy of mathematics. The Kermit Sigmon Scholarship will be awarded to a deserving undergraduate. The University of Florida team members and high scorers in the William Lowell Putnam Competition will be recognized. Officers of Pi Mu Epsilon, the undergraduate mathematics club, and Graduate Mathematics Association will be recognized. Graduate Student Teaching awards will be made, and a variety of activities of members of our department will be highlighted.

Mathematics and the Ocean (The Math Forum Page)

To learn more about ocean research, which uses mathematical, computer and statistical modeling, follow some of the links below.

• Ocean algae research at UF uses computer modeling.
• The Coriolis force (described by French mathematician Gaspard Gustave de Coriolis in 1835). While the Coriolis Effect shows up in the rotation of hurricanes, Alistair Fraser of Simon Fraser University assures us that there is no noticeable effect on the water in a sink.
• Ocean Remote Sensing at Johns Hopkins University
• The College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University
• Leonid Kuznetsov, et al model Gulf of Mexico Currents:

Mathematics Awareness events date back to 1986 and a proclamation by President Reagan. It is coordinated by the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics, which includes the American Mathematical Society, the Mathematical Association of America, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.