Two Lee University students took first and second place in the 13th annual Student Paper Contest in the History of Mathematics hosted by the History of Mathematics Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America.
The purpose of the contest is to increase awareness and interest in the history of mathematics among undergraduates and to encourage students to learn more about an area in the history of mathematics of their choosing.
William Cole, mathematics major and Lee graduate from Winston-Salem, N.C., took first place for his paper, “The Evolution of the Circle Method in Additive Prime Number Theory.” Anne Kelton, senior chemistry and mathematics double major with an Education emphasis from Collierville, Tenn., took second place for her paper, “Overcoming Obstacles: The Lives of Sophie Germain and Sonya Kovalevskaya.”
Mr. Cole’s paper traced the development of the “circle method” and its application to the Goldbach conjectures, which states that every odd number greater than or equal to seven can be expressed as the sum of three prime numbers.
“I agonized over this for innumerable hours, but I never thought that it would amount to much more than a good grade in a class,” said Mr. Cole. “Once I finished it, I thought I would be done with it for good, but, at the urging of the wonderful Dr. Laura Singletary, I submitted to the competition and still can’t believe I took first place.”
Ms. Kelton’s paper discussed the history of women in mathematics, with a focus on the lives and work of Sophie Germain and Sonya Kovalevskaya, from both the late 18th-early 19th century France and mid-late 19th century Russia. Her paper highlighted the conflict of women’s rights and the rejection from society of women’s participation in academia and describes the story of how each of these women had to go to great lengths to overcome these barriers, producing an advancement in mathematics in the process.
“I really enjoyed learning about and writing about Germain and Kovalevskaya,” said Ms. Kelton. “Much of the work that these women did was in fields that I have not yet studied, so I ended up learning quite a bit of new mathematics during the writing process. All of that being said, when I found out that I had placed in the competition, I was shocked and excited.”
Both Mr. Cole and Ms. Kelton will receive a one-year student membership to the Mathematical Association of America, and as a first-place contestant, Cole’s paper will also be published in the HOM SIGMAA annual online journal Convergence.
“These students researched diligently and constructed impressive research papers,” said Dr. Laura Singletary, assistant professor of mathematics. “I am consistently impressed by their hard work and delighted by their success in this national competition.”
The mission of HOM SIGMAA is to provide a forum through which those interested in the history of mathematics can meet, interact, exchange ideas, provide support for one another, and foster increased awareness of the historical background of mathematics. For more information about the HOM SIGMAA paper contest, visit http://www.maa.org/press/periodicals/convergence/hom-sigmaa-2016-student-paper-contest-winners.
For more information about Lee’s Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, visit http://www.leeuniversity.edu/academics/arts-sciences/ or call 614-8275.