Colloquium to explore links between baking and math

Puff pastries and mathematical equations aren’t typically two things found in the same sentence, but Grand Valley’s Math Department is kicking off its new Student Colloquium speaker series with a mathematician who uses baking metaphors to explain theories and methods in the field.

Eugenia Cheng will present “How to Bake Pi: An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics” Thursday, September 24, at 4:30 p.m. in Mackinac Hall, room A-2-117. Her presentation will revolve around themes found in her new book of the same name. A “Tea Time” in room A-2-610, which will give faculty and students an opportunity to meet Cheng and discuss mathematics while enjoying tea and cookies, will precede the presentation at 4 p.m.

In her book, Cheng explains how both math and cooking involve ingredients, methods, numbers and processes in an attempt to explain complex mathematical ideas in simple terminologies.

Ed Aboufadel, professor of mathematics and colloquium coordinator, said the series is part of an on-going initiative to engage math majors and minors outside of the classroom.

“By connecting higher mathematics to cooking, students will gain new insights into the discipline,” Aboufadel said. “Dr. Cheng provides an accessible introduction to the logic and beauty of mathematics, powered, unexpectedly, by insights from the kitchen.”

Cheng is currently a senior lecturer in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Sheffield in the U.K. She is also serving as the Scientist-in-Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

For more information, contact the Math Department at (616) 331-2040.