Special Public Lecture: Tokieda

A world from a sheet of paper

International Day of Mathematics/ Pi Day Public Lecture by Tadashi Tokieda

Friday March 13th, Lecture: 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm, followed by drinks and canapés from 6:30 pm, The University of Sydney (Lecture theatre TBA)

Starting from just a sheet of paper, by folding, stacking, crumpling, tearing, we shall explore a rich variety of phenomena, from magic tricks and geometry through elasticity and the traditional Japanese art of origami to medical devices and ‘h-principle’. Much of the lecture consists of table-top demos.

his public lecture is hosted by the Sydney Mathematical Research Institute as part of our program for International Day of Mathematics/ Pi Day. The talk will be tailored to a general audience and suitable for individuals from Year 10 onward. This is a free event, however registration is essential.

Tadashi Tokieda, Stanford University

Tadashi Tokieda is a professor of mathematics at Stanford.  He grew up as a painter in Japan, became a classical philologist (not to be confused with philosopher) and worked a little as a plumber in France and, after PhD in pure mathematics from Princeton, has been an applied mathematician around the world.  He is active in outreach e.g. via the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences and the YouTube channel Numberphile; he gave public lectures at ICM 2018 and 2022, and will speak at ICM 2026.