Lightning calculation and other “Mathemagic”
In a lively show, “mathemagician” Arthur Benjamin races a team of calculators to figure out 3-digit squares in his head, performs a massive mental calculation, and guesses a few birth days. How does he do it? He’ll be happy to tell you.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3285314163510346758
About Arthur Benjamin:
Arthur Benjamin makes numbers dance. In his day job, he’s a professor of math at Harvey Mudd College; in his other day job, he’s a “Mathemagician,” taking the stage in his tuxedo to perform high-speed mental calculations, memorizations and other astounding math stunts. It’s part of his drive to teach math and mental agility in interesting ways, following in the footsteps of such heroes as Martin Gardner.
Benjamin is the co-author, with Michael Shermer, of Secrets of Mental Math (which shares his secrets for rapid mental calculation), as well as the co-author of the MAA award-winning Proofs That Really Count: The Art of Combinatorial Proof. For a glimpse of his broad approach to math, see the list of research talks on his website, which seesaws between high-level math (such as his “Vandermonde’s Determinant and Fibonacci SAWs,” presented at MIT in 2004) and engaging math talks for the rest of us (“An Amazing Mathematical Card Trick”).
Tags: Arthur Benjamin, Business, Footsteps, Level Math, Martin Gardner, Math Talks, Mathemagician, Mental Calculations, Mental Math, Michael Shermer, Proofs, Saws, VandermondeIf you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
