Mathematics of Planet Earth

We all know something about waves; we’ve seen them in the sea and as ripples on a pond.  We know that sound travels to our ears as a wave and that some properties of light can be explained by its wave nature.  However, the mechanisms by which waves are propagated is perhaps not so well known.  A particular feature of waves is that they are vibrations and it is this oscillatory behaviour which allows us to describe them in a quantitative sense.

We shall start with this simple idea to show that energy is transferred from one location to another.  Many of the properties of waves (e.g. travelling and standing waves, interference, Doppler effect etc.) will be described and illustrated by a wide variety of examples including waves on strings, water waves, seismic waves and tsunamis, and electromagnetic waves.

This masterclass will be delivered by Professor Alan Davies, and is part of the 2013 celebrations of the Mathematics of Planet Earth (MPE2013).

This event is for Ri members and their guests, and is suitable for anyone aged 12 and above.

Alan Davies is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Hertfordshire where his teaching and research has been in numerical applied mathematics.  He is a Member of Ri Council and has, for more than fifteen years, had a very close association with masterclass programmes in Hertfordshire, London and elsewhere.  He presents a wide variety of topics to young people of all ages from primary through secondary into higher education and gives public lectures to general audiences on popular applications of mathematics and physics.  He believes that it is possible to introduce so-called advanced topics to young people of any age, it’s not the topic it’s the method of delivery.