Last Tuesday, 21st of November, IE Research Datalab welcomed Prof. Marcus du Sautoy at the IE Tower. Professor du Sautoy gave a talk about “The Art of the Shortcut”, one of his latest books. The talk celebrated the elegance and efficiency of mathematical shortcuts in understanding and solving complex problems. He began with the story of Carl Friedrich Gauss, a young prodigy who, when tasked to sum all the integer numbers from 1 to 100, found a quick and ingenious shortcut. While his classmates added numbers sequentially, Gauss paired the first and last numbers. He realized that each pair summed to 101, and by multiplying this 50 (the number of pairs), he arrived at the correct answer: 5050.
Du Sautoy also illustrated the power of diagrams in simplifying and communicating complex information. He cited Florence Nightingale’s use of rose diagrams during the Crimean War as a prime example. These diagrams effectively communicated the causes of soldier deaths and helped save many life. He also talked about number “e”, demonstrating that 1/e can help you find the optimal life partner: you must examine 37% of the options and then choose the partner that is superior to that 37% (just, don’t tell your pattern you did that—it leaves no place for romance).
Moreover, he explored how nature intuitively finds efficient solutions, a concept that has inspired many mathematical principles. For instance, the minimal surface area principle in bubbles has provided solutions for architectural designs like the Munich Olympics stadium. In essence, the talk “Thinking Better: The Art of the Shortcut” showcased how mathematics is not just about mathematical formulas. Marcus shared a broader perspective on how mathematics is intertwined with the natural world and our daily lives, offering efficient solutions and insightful ways to approach complex problems.
The talk was attended by students from the new Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Mathematics, where many IE Research Datalab researchers teach. Professor du Sautoy highlighted the importance of mathematics in different careers, showing the students the great potential they have in their future fields.