Everyone has heard the cliché, “Stop and smell the roses.” How about “Stop and admire the math?”
“Geometreks” is the topic of a free public lecture to be given Monday, April 14, by Ivars Peterson, chairholder of East Tennessee State University’s Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence for the Integration of the Arts, Rhetoric and Science.
“Walking the streets of a city or town can provide wonderful glimpses of mathematical art if the ‘seeing’ is done with a keen eye for mathematics,” says Peterson.
His illustrated presentation will highlight public sculptures and other artwork and structures with mathematical themes in Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; Toronto and Ottawa, Canada; Cambridge, Mass.; New Orleans; Atlanta; and other places.
Peterson, an award-winning mathematics writer, is director of publications for Journals and Communications at the Mathematical Association of America.
He worked at Science News for more than 25 years and served as editor of Science News Online and Science News for Kids. His books include “The Mathematical Tourist,” “Islands of Truth,” “Newton’s Clock, Fatal Defect: Chasing Killer Computer Bugs” and “Fragments of Infinity: A Kaleidoscope of Math and Art.”
He writes for the children’s magazine Muse, and has collaborated on two books for middle school children.
Created in 1994, the Basler Chair of Excellence is named in honor of a longtime member of the ETSU Foundation who is a strong advocate of programs at the university.
The state Chair of Excellence brings a variety of scholars to the community to broaden opportunities for students and the general public in the arts, humanities and science. It is intended to show the unity of knowledge by bridging gaps among disciplines, and by helping individuals move beyond the narrow focus of a single discipline or vision.
Peterson’s talk begins at 7 p.m. in the D.P. Culp University Center ballroom.
For more information or for special assistance for those with disabilities, contact the ETSU College of Arts and Sciences at (423) 439-5671 or the Department of Mathematics at 439-4349.

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