Frank Morgan

When I visited Universiti Teknologi Mara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, I was most impressed by the young mathematician who presided at my session, Nuru’l-‘izzah Othman. She summarized the session as follows, better than I could have:

Three golden rules for starting a mathematics project:

1.  Start small. Try to start with small and manageable projects and avoid being too ambitious.

2.  Start with something familiar or close to one’s heart.

3.  Do what you enjoy doing and enjoy what you are doing.

On my invitation she has kindly written the following guest post:

World Peace through Mathematics by Nuru’l-‘izzah Othman, Universiti Teknologi Mara

Last May, my colleagues and I were honoured with an audience with the renowned Professor Frank Morgan, who was on his Asian tour to deliver talks on the amazing Soap Bubble Theory. His lecture on the theory and its applications proved to be an eye opener for many of us, especially yours truly. I was awed by the fact that something as simple and mundane as soap bubbles can provide us with mathematical solutions for solving complex problems. Yet what caught my attention most was a simple remark he made about “bringing the world together through mathematics”. Call me crazy if you like, but I have always believed that world peace can be achieved if everyone thinks like a mathematician.

I believe that God—the greatest mathematician of all—communicates with us in mathematical terms. Just look around us and you will see my point. The mathematical message God sends us through the simple soap bubble for example is a testimony of this simple view. Mathematics, as God’s articulation of His greatness, stresses the importance of orderliness, to abide by the rules, and to look for common ground (such as patterns). This is like God is telling us not create chaos, to observe and respect other’s beliefs and customs, to look for a common solution or come together when there a problem and not to let our differences come between us.

The world for me is fast becoming a sad place. In most parts of the world, people are at war (or on the verge of starting one) and in some parts people are fighting and killing each other simply due to differences in opinion, political beliefs, religion, skin colour, or for whatever reason that justifies their actions. The human race and its worldly problems for me are like a system of equations. Although each equation in the system is unique in its presentation and value, all the equations share the same value for the variables that define the system. Just like the equations, each and every one of us is unique in our appearance, customs, beliefs, religion etc. Nevertheless there are values which we share in common which make us not so different from one another. When everyone understands this simple concept then the world will be a much better place to live in.

The International Mathematics Olympiad 2011, which just ended last week, demonstrates the fact that mathematics really does bring the world together. Young mathematicians from all over the world congregate for one common cause—their love for mathematics.  The Malaysian team managed to bag 1G, 1S, 1B and 2HM. Although it was a modest win we are very proud of our young mathematicians. There is a warm feeling in my heart whenever I look at this picture. It gives me hope that peace may still have a chance.