For immediate release 28 April 1997 Leading Mathematician Unravels Numbers
Professor Alan Baker, Fields Medallist and leading mathematician, will give a public lecture at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology on 29 April as part of the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund Visiting Professorship Scheme.
Prof Baker was awarded the Fields Medal in 1970 by the International Congress of Mathematicians. Awarded every four years for outstanding discoveries in mathematics, the Medal is considered the highest honor in the field and the equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
Since the time of the ancient Greeks, people have asked whether it is possible to 'square a circle' -- create a square with the same area as a circle using a ruler and compasses only. This was proved to be impossible -- one of the major results of the last century -- by showing that pi is a transcendental number -- that is, a number which is not a solution of a polynomial equation with integer coefficients.
The branch of mathematics which encompasses these results is called Transcendental Number Theory. Prof Baker's medal-winning work was a breakthrough in this area and it has led to numerous and widespread applications. This has been one of the most exciting developments of modern mathematics.
Prof Baker has been Professor of Pure Mathematics at the University of Cambridge since 1974, and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, since 1964. He is currently a visiting professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, supported by the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund.
After receiving his first degree from University College, London, Prof Baker took up research at the University of Cambridge and obtained an MA and PhD there. Among his many honors and awards are the Adams Prize, Cambridge (1972), Fellow of the Royal Society (1973), First Turán Lecturer, Hungary (1978) and Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (1980).
The workshop has been organized by HKUST's Biotechnology Research Institute, Department of Biochemistry and School of Science. Details are as follows:
Event: Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund Visiting Professorship Scheme Public Lecture Speaker: Prof Alan Baker, FRS, Professor of Pure Mathematics, University of Cambridge Title: Solving Equations in Integers: Diophantine Analysis and Transcendence Theory Time: 6 pm (reception from 5:30 pm) Venue: Lam Woo Lecture Theatre, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon
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