Speaker Series
The Mathematics of Card Shuffling
Date+Time
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The MƒA Thursday Think Speaker Series brings accomplished speakers who dive into cutting-edge topics in STEM education to MƒA. These talks, held once a month throughout the school year, invite MƒA teachers and the general public to learn and engage with these thought leaders and professionals in mathematics, science, and education.
It is often said that it takes seven shuffles to mix a deck of cards. What does that mean, and how do we know it to be true? In this Thursday Think talk, Dr. Francis Su explains the key ideas behind this mathematical riddle, including some of the delightful combinatorial insights about the standard riffle shuffle, in which half of the deck is held in each hand and the cards are released by the thumbs so that they fall to the table interleaved. In addition, he will demonstrate a selection of card “tricks” based on the mathematics of card shuffling. These are mathematical card tricks, meaning they work on mathematical principles and not sleight of hand! Bring a deck of cards to follow along!
Dr. Francis Su is the Benediktsson-Karwa Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College and a former president of the Mathematical Association of America. His research is in geometric combinatorics and applications to the social sciences. In 2013, he received the Haimo Award, a nationwide teaching prize for college mathematics faculty, and in 2018 he won the Halmos-Ford writing award. His work has been featured in Quanta Magazine, Wired, and the New York Times. His book Mathematics for Human Flourishing, winner of the 2021 Euler Book Prize, is an inclusive vision of what math is, who it’s for, and why anyone should learn it.