Today@Dal

Photo by Scott Blackburn, from The Coast

In this week's "Back to School" issue of The Coast, Mathematics and Statistics Professor Jason Brown is celebrated as a professor who has "made a splash outside of the classroom." Dinuk Wijeratne, who has taught in the Department of Music, is also featured.

From the article:

On the homepage of Dalhousie mathematics, statistics and computer science professor Jason Brown's website, he states: "Everyone...can benefit from adding just a bit more mathematics to their daily routine."

For Brown, one of the best ways to do this is with music. While working on his undergrad, Brown would TA and research during the day, playing guitar in bands at night. As a university professor, he received worldwide acclaim when he used mathematics to solve the riddle of the opening chord to The Beatles "A Hard Day's Night." Since then, Brown's work has grown in popularity---he writes a science column for The Chronicle-Herald, and has penned a book on mathematics, Our Days Are Numbered: How Mathematics Orders Our Lives.

"I think people often miss the mathematics that's there and sometimes there is a fear of mathematics amongst the population that is really unfortunate," he says. "I think the opportunity that's been afforded to me because of the media attention from my Beatles work allows me to be an ambassador to mathematics, to explain to people that mathematics is not what people believe it to be."

Read the full article online.