| Title: | Hippocrates and the Quadrature of the Lune |
| Speaker: | John Stoughton Professor of Mathematics Hope College Holland, MI |
| Abstract: | The problem of squaring the circle (i.e., given a circle, can we construct, withstraightedge and compass alone, a square with EXACTLY the same area?) is one ofthe oldest in mathematics. It was proposed sometime before 440 BC (the time ofHippocrates) and was not solved until 1882. Hippocrates came very close toshowing that it could be done and his work led some of the world's bestmathematicians to believe that it could. (It can't.) In this talk, we examineHippocrates' work and discuss why it took over 2300 years from his time for theproblem to be solved. |
| Location: | Norris 109 |
| Date: | 8/26/2004 |
| Time: | 4:10 PM |
@abstract{MCS:Colloquium:JohnStoughton
ProfessorofMathematics
HopeCollege
HollandMI:2004:8:26,
author = "{John Stoughton
Professor of Mathematics
Hope College
Holland, MI}",
title = "{Hippocrates and the Quadrature of the Lune}",
address = "{Albion College Mathematics and Computer Science Colloquium}",
month = "{26 August}",
year = "{2004}"
}