MAT 308: Mathematics and Sex
27 September — 1 October 2004
Old Main 403 Canisius College: 5:00pm — 8:00pm Daily
| Instructor: | Clio Cresswell Visiting Fellow The School of Mathematics The University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia |
Course Outline: For many people, just seeing the words mathematics and sex in the same sentence is odd enough, let alone discovering there is a deep relationship between the two. Well, now is the time to shatter stereotypes because the fact is sex is highly mathematical. And we’re not just talking about numbers and probabilities. Mathematics is the study of patterns: their discovery, their interconnections and their implications. And in the context of sex, mathematics has uncovered a treasuretrove of sometimes unexpected but rich patterns and relationships. In this course, you will be presented with a sample of these. You’ll get a taste of a number of mathematical areas; you’ll see how mathematicians have considered sexual problems and you will learn how so called non-mathematicians have used mathematics to further their research. And, as if this wasn’t enough already, you’ll pick up some great relationship tips as well!
Lecture 1: Love & Marriage [Dynamical Systems]
Here we will introduce the concept of a dynamical system and its analysis. A dynamical system consists of a set of di erential equations that capture the essential properties of an entity as it changes with time. It was Newton, no less, who was the first to use them. He was studying the motion of planets and cannon balls. Today, however, they are used in all fields, from chemistry to psychology to the stock market. The key to their success is that they are the only reliable fortune telling method we have. The motion of the planets depends upon the forces between them. What sorts of forces apply to lovers? Can we use these methods to predict successful relationships?
Lecture 2: Searching for The One [Search Algorithms & Probability]
With our everyday use of the Internet, we have become very familiar with different search methods or strategies, such as Google or Yahoo. We see how different search strategies yield di erent results, that the validity of the results can be quantified statistically, and that some search strategies may be more suited to a specific task than others. But it’s not just the Internet, our lives are full of searches and therefore strategies: Which peach will be the juiciest at the store? Where shall I park? Whom shall I marry? We are always searching! And with divorce rates skyrocketing, the question is how can we devise a good search strategy to find that special someone? We will study a number of search strategies to address this, in conjunction with some rules of probability to account for our lives little imperfections.
Lecture 3: Physical Attractiveness [Genetic Algorithms & Scaling]
We appear to know when someone has a big nose or is too skinny, yet there is no set of exact individual measurements to lead us to such classifications. Attractiveness is about how everything fits together in the final structure. It’s about the relationships between the different body parts. Simple measurements are not sufficient. Here, we will delve into some of the mathematical techniques that have been used to investigate this complex issue. These include scaling relations, genetic algorithms, and fractal geometry. Will we be able to teach a computer what is attractive? Or will the computer be showing us what we find attractive
Lecture 4: People Matching & Dating Services [The “Marriage Problem” & Distance Measures]
How do people pair up in society? If everyone wants Cameron Diaz or Keanu Reeves but only one can have either, where does that leave the others? And where does that leave the less popular? When we look at people matching on a community scale, where everyone is vying for someone else about town, patterns emerge in terms of end results and satisfaction levels. We will discuss the mathematically notorious marriage problem. Now one place where matching happens in, let’s say a more controlled fashion, is among the users of dating services. How do people get matched up with these services? Tackling this question will mean an encounter with distance measures, a mathematical notion developed in the 19th century but thought to be completely useless at the time. Little did anybody know! Many of the ideas discussed in this lecture will be tested out in the classroom. How will people be matched up in this sample space? Hopefully neither Cameron nor Keanu will be attending otherwise our calculations may be terribly skewed.
Lecture 5: Feeling Hormonal? [Self-Organization & Stochastic Calculus]
No course on Mathematics and Sex would be complete without some of the mathematics used to study hormones. Our bodies are teaming with testosterone, oestrogen, progesterone, oxytocin — the list carries on. How do all these hormones coordinate themselves to have an e ect? What are men’s hormonal patterns? How do ovaries count out the months to know when it is time to release an egg? Selforganization and stochastic calculus are both topics that have come in handy here. The mathematics is of a high level and so this final lecture will, in comparison to previous ones, be more of a survey of results. A perfect way to finish as it will give you a flavor of how far mathematics goes and where mathematics can take you.
Prerequisites: One, preferably two, semesters of college level mathematics. Or, a strong high school background in mathematics (for example, advance placement calculus).
Biographical Information: The source of Clio Cresswell’s fame lies in its incongruity — she is a mathematical celebrity! Besides being a mathematics lecturer at The University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, she is the author of an iconoclastic new book Mathematics and Sex, writes a ‘relationships and love’ Q&A column for New Woman Magazine, and appears regularly on radio and television. Clio’s unconventional and dynamic career stems from her active pursuit of diversity and a desire to experience all the many fascinating aspects of life.
Born in England, she spent part of her childhood on a Greek island, and was then schooled in the south of France. Clio was studying Visual Art in Cannes, before she simultaneously discovered the joys of Australia and mathematics at the age of 18. With the door to mathematics opened, Clio studied mathematics at The University of New South Wales, winning the exceptionally prestigious University Medal for her Honors degree, and completing a PhD in 1999, from which she published a number of papers.
However, always keen to embrace a challenge, Clio decided against a traditional career and instead combined her love of mathematics with freelance writing and presenting, work which ranges from television appearances, to corporate speaking, to publishing.
Clio has interviewed such personalities as Dennis Rodman on the top rating Australian television show The Panel; delivered serious book reviews for the reputable Science Show on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio National; and has been a host of breakfast radio for one of Australia’s leading commercial stations, Triple M. She has given relationship advice on Beauty and The Beast, one of Australia’s longest running television programs, and has launched one of the latest bras from the Triumph International collection. In 2001, Clio’s incongruous celebrity was cemented when she was voted one of the 25 Most Beautiful People by Who Weekly, the Australian incarnation of People Magazine.
It was also in 2001 that Clio was selected as one of 200 Australia Day (January 26) Ambassadors to promote Australian excellence during the Australia Day celebrations. She has been a Visiting Fellow in The School of Mathematics at The University of New South Wales since 2000, and now also holds the post of Development and Liaison Manager — a role focusing on promoting the school itself, as well as mathematics in general.
The North American release of Dr Cresswell’s new book Mathematics and Sex will coincide with her visit to Canisius College and will be marked with various celebratory events. Mathematics and Sex is currently being translated into German, French and Japanese.