Cambridge Science Festival Maths Public Open Day - Saturday 21 March 2015
Come to Cambridge on Saturday 21st March 2015 to join in the huge range of free family activities at the Cambridge Science Festival Maths Public Open Day! From Isaac Newton onwards, Cambridge has been associated with some of the most famous mathematicians in history. Modern mathematicians and theoretical physicists work on everything from the Big Bang to number theory, from modelling the shrinking of Arctic sea ice to geometry, quantum information and understanding how the influenza virus evolves. On Saturday 21st March the Centre for Mathematical Sciences will be open from 12 noon to 4pm as more than 90 volunteer staff and students from the Faculty of Mathematics will share the excitement of the subject through hands-on activities, games and demonstrations (featuring everything from custard to cosmology!) for visitors of all ages from 8 through to adult. Join us for fractal paper folding; discover how to model epidemics with Lego; shoot the shark, build your own lava lamp and explore human plumes in the fluids lab; and take part in a live experiment to test the wisdom of the crowd. Hands-on activities will cover subjects as diverse as high energy physics, relativity and gravitation, astrophysics, disease dynamics, quantum information, statistics and probability, geometry and fractals. There will also be mathematical activities and games for younger children too (ages 5+). The Maths Public Open Day happens only once every two years and last took place in 2013. The event offers a rare chance to explore inside the fluids dynamics laboratory hidden beneath the lawn of one of the most beautiful modern buildings in Cambridge. Hands-on fluids demonstrations and activities will explore many of the areas on which Cambridge applied mathematicians work, from investigating how micro-organisms swim to predicting avalanches. There will also be an incredibly rare and exciting opportunity to take a tour round the COSMOS supercomputer, the largest shared-memory computer in Europe, which supports research in cosmology, astrophysics and particle physics. Places for the tours, which will be run at intervals during the afternoon, can only be booked in person on the day (please note numbers will be limited). At 12.15 Charlie Gilderdale will be giving a highly interactive talk on 'Thinking Mathematically' for ages 11-13, while at 2pm join Professor Ben Allanach to explore 'The Large Hadron Collider and the Dark Matter Mystery' (talk; ages 15+, no booking needed).
Cambridge Science Festival Maths Open Day: Saturday 21 March 2015, 12 noon to 4pm. No advance booking needed - drop in at any point during the afternoon (12 noon - 4pm). Suitable for all ages. Location: Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA View a site-map and directions to the Centre for Mathematical Sciences. The Maths Cafe will be open throughout the event, serving tea and coffee, soft drinks, snacks and sandwiches. Limited free parking will be available on-site in the Centre for Mathematical Sciences' car park on Wilberforce Road (accessible via Madingley Road) on a first-come, first-served basis.
Cambridge Science Festival Maths Open Day: Saturday 21 March 2015, 12 noon to 4pm. No advance booking needed - drop in at any point during the afternoon (12 noon - 4pm). Suitable for all ages. Location: Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA View a site-map and directions to the Centre for Mathematical Sciences. The Maths Cafe will be open throughout the event, serving tea and coffee, soft drinks, snacks and sandwiches. Limited free parking will be available on-site in the Centre for Mathematical Sciences' car park on Wilberforce Road (accessible via Madingley Road) on a first-come, first-served basis.
