The magic of Mathematics at the Museum of Life
The audience was stunned. And there was no shortage of expressions of surprise from the children of the Pastor Pedro Heitor de Faria Educational Institute, from Duque de Caxias, present at the auditorium of the Museum of Life, at Fiocruz, on the afternoon of this Wednesday (25): a “I don’t believe it!” here; an “incredible” there; and even a “it’s a lie!”, uttered with a finger raised. Such incredulity was a reaction to the jokes that the general director of IMPA, Marcelo Viana, made to show how magical, literally, Mathematics is.
Invited to give a lecture at the institution, as part of the 14th National Science and Technology Week (SNCT), which this year addresses the theme "Mathematics is in everything," Viana asked one of those present to choose a number and said he would be able to guess it. And so he did, armed with paper, pen, and mathematical induction.
The excitement grew even greater when he announced that he would try to discover the grandmother's name of eight of the students. To do this, they would have to write down the number of vowels and the number of consonants in each name on a piece of paper. With each correct guess – Aparecida, Jurema, Ana Alice, Celeste… – the children exchanged glances, laughing. Sixth-grade student Lucianny Fernandes, 11, kept repeating: “It's impossible, guys! How does he do it?”. To which Viana replied: "Mathematics can also be used to play tricks on friends."
During the chat, which lasted about an hour and a half, the director-general of IMPA showed, through episodes he experienced, as well as games and comics, how essential mathematics is in our daily lives. "Without mathematics, nobody walks, nobody talks, nobody eats, we are left in the dark," he said, showing posters created by IMPA that prove this statement through examples easily found in everyday life.
Without math, he observed, it can be complicated even to give change for a R$100 bill or to make a good deal, as shown in a video shown during the presentation. In it, a saleswoman advertises 1 kg of flour for R$3 and 2 kg for R$5. But when they try to buy 3 kg for R$10, she surprisingly replies, definitively: “Oh, I can’t do that. It’s too expensive for me.” Faced with the mistake, several hands went up in the audience to explain why she lost out by rejecting the offer.
In addition to explanations of theorems and citations to the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707-1783), during the lecture, Viana explained that developing an interest in mathematics can bring numerous personal benefits, such as entering a prominent profession, and also enabling Brazil to achieve better performance in international assessments. Finally, he posed questions related to different levels of knowledge of the subject. And the children asked for an encore.