1-2-3 Seminar: Solving Math Problems with Pictures

Serge Lang said, in praise of Grothendieck’s Éléments de géométrie algébrique: “A theorem is not true any more because one can draw a picture, it is true because it is functorial.” With all due respect to Lang and Grothendieck, I disagree – in my opinion, a theorem often is true because one can draw a picture. Nowhere is this clearer than in the study of polytopes. In my talk, I’ll demonstrate how to visualize higher-dimensional polytopes, show you some of my favorite ones, and discuss a few results about them. By the end, I hope to convince you that solving a math problem often just means drawing the right picture.

Zoom Link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/92849568892