National Museum of Mathematics Presents
Math Encounters: THE CATALAN NUMBERS
Wednesday, September 4
at the National Museum of Mathematics
Presentations at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
What’s so special about the sequence 1, 1, 2, 5, 14, …? First described by Euler in the 1700s and later made famous by Belgian mathematician Eugène Catalan, the Catalan numbers take on a variety of different guises as they provide the solution to numerous combinatorial problems. Join mathematician Alissa Crans, recent Director of Educational and Outreach Activities at MSRI and current Loyola Marymount Associate Professor, as she explores some of the many ways in which the Catalan numbers are hidden throughout mathematics.
Presented by the Simons Foundation and the National Museum of Mathematics, Math Encounters is a public presentation series that celebrates the spectacular world of mathematics.
Alissa Crans, recent Director of Educational and Outreach Activities at MSRI, received her Ph.D. from the University of California. Crans is currently an Associate Professor of mathematics at Loyola Marymount.
Special introduction by John Ewing, president of Math for America.
