Mathematics Archives

The Topsy-Turvy World of Alice in Wonderland: Finding Logic Amidst Chaos

By David Gaebler, Hillsdale College Associate Professor of Mathematics What lessons does Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland teach children about growing up? Alice’s experience of growing (and shrinking) is deeply […]

How To Pick A Major

A lot of folks come to Hillsdale with a plan, and that’s fantastic. But let’s face it—sometimes plans change. Nathanael Meadowcroft was planning to be a physics major and music minor. Now he’s majoring in math and minoring in journalism.

Numbers and Notes

Hannah Andrews is a junior math major, a member of the Kappa Mu Epsilon math honorary, and co-founder and president of Hillsdale’s Actuarial Club, the discipline combining math and statistical methods to assess risks in investing and finance.

Exploring the Higher Ideas Through Politics and Mathematics

A Spotlight on Sarah Onken, ’16. Although Sarah Onken came to love politics and mathematics through different paths, her time at Hillsdale has allowed her to have a greater appreciation for the interconnectedness of what most people see as disparate fields.

$Math Homework$

Mathematics and the Common Core

Sarah Onken is a senior majoring in politics and mathematics. For her math thesis, Sarah chose to examine the standards the common core sets for mathematics and what they reveal about how common core answers the question, “What is mathematics?”

Finding Beauty in Quantum Thermodynamics

Some might be surprised to learn that Dr. David Gaebler pursued a degree in Biblical studies after graduating from engineering school. He explains, “I have always been interested in theology. In college, I had this desire to learn the original languages of Scripture, but never had time, so after I got my undergraduate degree in math and physics, I decided to spend some time at a seminary in California.”

$Math Chalkboard$

Do Quantum Systems Exist?

Dr. David Gaebler is an assistant professor of mathematics. His dissertation was on the “Unital Dilations of Completely Positive Semigroups.”

Hand-written Pi numbers on green chalkboard

Mathematics & Poetry

In his Math 403: Real Analysis course this semester, Dr. Gaebler offered an extra credit opportunity. Write a poem – a haiku, a limerick, or a sonnet – that encompasses some aspect of what we have learned so far this semester. Thus, I present to you “Sonnet √2,” a proof of the irrationality of the square root of two, written in true Shakespearean style.

The History of π

Each year on March 14, people around the world celebrate a number. That’s strange! But March 14, when written as 3/14, gives the first few digits of the famous mathematical constant π, which is approximately equal to 3.14159265358979…. What is π and why is it so special that we honor it every March 14? To understand some reasons, let’s start at the beginning, or as close to the beginning as we can find, for the history of π spans nearly 4000 years and it “has been known for so long that [its origin] is quite untraceable” (MacTutor, A history of Pi).

Mathematics and the Liberal Arts: Addison Stumpf

Addison Stumpf, a junior mathematics major and the president of one of the music honoraries, was drawn to Hillsdale because it has both a strong math department and an excellent music program.

Josiah Kollmeyer

Josiah started seriously considering Hillsdale after going on Dr. Whalen’s trip to England, “heaven on earth.” Seeing the level of learning expected from the students and being given the opportunity to wrestle with great questions convinced him that he needed to attend Hillsdale College. “As far as high school educations go, I got a decent one, but before that trip I had never tried to interact with great ideas like we do here—those sorts of questions I later learned are amazingly asked here all the time.”

Physics and the Liberal Arts

For his humble and soft-spoken nature, Viktor Rozsa, a senior Physics and Mathematics double major, has surprising achievements and facts about his life: he was born in Switzerland, speaks fluent Hungarian, plays a cello like a virtuoso, and he embarked on his college career shortly after turning seventeen.