The Elements of Math

6.17.10

Today I had an opportunity to attend a lunchtime lecture given by a famous applied mathematician and Cornell professor named Steven Strogatz who recently wrote a column called 'Elements of Math' for the New York Times (online version). The goal of Professor Strogatz's column was to "[write] about the elements of mathematics, from preschool to grad school, for anyone out there who’d like to have a second chance at the subject — but this time from an adult perspective. It’s not intended to be remedial. The goal is to give you a better feeling for what math is all about and why it’s so enthralling to those who get it." If you have a few minutes to spare, I strongly recommend that you take the time to read some of these columns.

Besides this column, Professor Strogatz has written several books on math in a variety of formats ranging from text books to novels. In fact his latest book called 'The Calculus of Friendship' catalogs his letter correspondence with his high school calculus teacher. He was a very dynamic speaker, offering a great deal of advice on how to present scientific material to a general, and potentially nonscientific, audience.

Overall, the lecture was very laid back, fun, and interactive. He made it very clear from the beginning that he would explain his methods of communication and he also valued our feedback. How would we have presented this material? What questions would we have asked the editor of the New York Times if he had said we should write a column on (insert your scientific field of choice here)?

Important 'elements' to consider when communicating with others:

(1) Clearly identify your topic

(2) Choose your audience

(3) Choose your emphasis (Will you talk about the ideas themselves, the famous problems and why they are/were famous, or the application of this topic to people's daily lives?)

(4) Decide your tone (It might be helpful to personalize it. Professor Strogatz pretended that he was writing letters to his friend and this helped him maintain his tone.)

(5) Bonuses (What can you add to improve your audiences experience? Professor Strogatz added artwork, videos, links, etc. to his column in order to make it more interactive.)