Ted

KYMAA

We returned from presenting at the Kentucky chapter of the Mathematical Association of America on Saturday. It was a really interesting weekend, with many informative presentations given by faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate researchers. My group’s presentation the research we’d done for the COMAP competition went well; it was attended by about 25 conference attendees.

There were two keynote addresses which we attended. The first was about the Truth of Proofs. The speaker contended that real progress in mathematics is made when a theory is proved false, or a counter-example is given for a theory previously thought correct. Mathematicians should not lose heart when this occurs because this is in reality an opportunity to delve deeper into the subject at hand and understand the nuances of the theorem.

The second keynote address dealt with cryptology, specifically withe the Allied attack of the German ENIGMA cypher during World War II. It was especially interesting for me, since I’m hoping to land a research internship in the field of cryptology for the summer.