From One, Two, Many, to ABC (or ten reasons why mathematics isn't as easy as 1,2,3)

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We’ll survey ten fun topics in shapes and numbers and patterns whose basics and generalizations can be explored with little mathematical background, and which speedily lead to “what if?” questions ranging from easy to tricky to “we just don’t know.”

Cakes, doughnuts, coins, boxes, cubes, primes, squares, and sums involving powers will all make appearances. Occasionally, we will stray into deeper waters and touch on more sophisticated topics.

Many mathematical observations say something like:

“If it's a duck, then it walks and talks like a duck.”

Sometimes, the converse is also true, though harder to prove:

“If it walks and talks like a duck, then it's a duck.”

This is a general audience lecture, no prior mathematical training is necessary. Participation is free of charge. There will be an opportunity to enter MPIM between 18:00 and 18:30.