10/04/07 MATHEMATICS
DEPARTMENT, FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
MATH
COLLOQUIUM, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 04, 11:00 AM, STARR 138
SPEAKER: Robert McCullough,
Associate Professor,
Department of Mathematics, Ferris State University
TITLE: Sputnik – 50 years later
ABSTRACT:
On this date fifty years ago, the world was changed
forever when the Soviet Union ushered in the space age and shocked the Western
world with the launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1. In this talk we will discuss how a seemingly
backward country (as viewed by the United States) could have beaten the rest of
the world to this impressive technological achievement. We will consider the political, historical
and yes, even some of the mathematical, stories behind this accomplishment and
how the world is influenced today by what took place a half century ago on the
steppes of Kazakhstan. The launch of
Sputnik 1 changed the world from a place where the sky was the limit to one in
which it truly is not.
REFRESHMENTS: 11:00 am, STARR 138
http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/colleges/artsands/Math/MATH_COLLOQUIUM/ColloquiumWeb/index.html