Latest news with #mathematician
Telegraph
09-06-2025
- Telegraph
Italy's greatest treasures are its undiscovered villages – and I should know
I was born in a little town by the sea, between Rome and Naples. This is the English sentence I uttered the most throughout my school years and later in my academic life when, as a young mathematician, I used to leave the Università di Napoli for summer schools and conferences abroad. The scholars I met never knew the name of my town, Scauri. Some had heard about nearby Gaeta (because of the prison, and the Nazi who was imprisoned there, and his escape in a suitcase), but no one knew Scauri. Scauri is a hamlet in the district of Minturno, a coastal town at the very edge of the province of Lazio. As I write these lines, there is no Wikipedia page about Scauri in English. Nor is there an English page about Minturnae, Minturno's ancient ruins. Both sit along the Via Appia, the main artery of Roman Italy – the Romans called it regina viarum, the queen of all roads. You may not have heard of them, but it is these tiny, barely noticed places which remain the heart and soul of Italy – and to visit them remains the finest way to get beneath my country's skin. Anyone who spends a morning in Scauri will be captured by the disjointed grace of this place – my place. As if on a chessboard, you will find: a Saracen tower (Torre Saracens), black and white horses galloping on the shore, pawns strolling on the boardwalk, sometimes a bishop – and definitely nuns: there are two churches. And, of course, countless people who see themselves as kings and queens, probably as a consequence of the fact that Scauri's roots stretch back to ancient times, to Roman antiquity, when Gaius Marius himself had sought refuge from Silla's hitmen in Minturnae. Scauri is a gulf, a curve: six miles of sand and sea, with a tiny marina and various little beach-side restaurants scattered along it. The water is not just blue or green, but blue-green-brown, due to the winds and currents, and the heights of pines that mirror themselves in the waves at both ends of the gulf. The Caribbean, this is not. Of course, the Italians have known about Scauri's charms for centuries – even now, it grows exponentially from winter (6,000 inhabitants) to summer (100,000 inhabitants, plus commuters from Napoli and her suburbs). It is a vacation spot and has been since the Roman Empire. But what draws these visitors? The history, for one. You will find Roman ruins here, even pre-Roman walls – the cyclopic walls of the ancient port of Pirae, Villa di Lucio Mamurra (a villa with an ancient cistern in the Parco di Gianola Riviera di Ulisse), Castellum Acquae (once a water source) – as well as Roman bricks and marbles re-used in contemporary houses and apartments. There is also a well-preserved Roman pier and, of course, Roman bones six feet under. And it's not only ancient history. Explore outdoors, and you'll find criss-crossing hiking trails all across the lovely Parco di Gianola e Monte di Scauri, or take a catamaran tour to the blue waters of Grotta Azzurra, a sea cave. We have amazing food here, too – from Locanda Rusticone's pizza (735 Via Appia) to Cardillo's pastries (1120 Via Appia), and fresh seafood at Angeli & Marinai (14 Piazza Marco Emilio Scauro) – spaghetti alle vongole; a thick, rich guazzetto; salt cod in a light tempura. You can spend lazy hours on the sand (Spiaggia di Scauri is well loved, but Lido Aurora has a beach club and playground), then stroll to an obliging ice-cream stall, or to Lo Scoglio (7 Via Porto Scauritano) for a cold, crisp beer with views of the bay and live music. The Little I Knew is my first novel to be translated into English, and I'm very happy that it is, even though I can write and think only a little in English myself. It is a novel based on and bred in Scauri; a love letter to the comforting claustrophobia of small-town life. During my youth, I learn that a tiny town is the perfect place to practice tolerance and mediation, because you see everybody all the time, every day. You live with these people – and the familiarity can be a relief, or they can annoy you to your wit's end, even if you love them. But you cannot hate them, because tomorrow you'll see them again. This is the ultimate social network – a strongly interwoven place where lives overlap. Visit and you will see a place that is truly real – a window into a culture that you will not find in Italy's big cities, or even its towns. It is a network which has died out in much of the world, but one which is alive and well in its small, ancient villages. Little, undiscovered places, like Scauri. Essentials Ryanair flies from London to Naples from £148 return; easyJet flies from London to Naples from £173 return. Trains from Naples run to Minturno-Scauri, costing from £3 and taking approximately one hour.
BBC News
09-06-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Lincoln City's new shirt honours mathematician George Boole
Lincoln City's new home kit honours a Victorian mathematician whose work is in every computer and Boole, who was born in the city in 1815, invented Boolean logic - a system that is regarded as the foundation for computer a tribute to the pioneering mathematician, binary code spelling out We Are Imps will feature on the football club's shirt for the upcoming chief growth and innovation officer Jason Futers said: "We wanted to celebrate George, his life and contribution to the world, by bringing it into the design of the home kit." In 1849, the shoemaker's son was appointed chair of mathematics at Queen's College in Cork in the Republic of Ireland. Four years later, he secured his place in the history books after publishing the Laws of Thought, a book containing a description of practical concepts for an algebra of former teacher, who founded two schools, is commemorated throughout his home city. He is featured on a window inside the city's cathedral known as the teaching window and there is also a plaque on his Pottergate house. There is also a mention on an obelisk to city greats in St Mark's Shopping Centre and a large bronze statue outside Lincoln railway station."He created a logical framework called Boolean logic, that is literally the foundation for binary code, which is itself the foundation for computer programming," Mr Futers added."You can't underestimate the importance of Boole in modern society." Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
John Kent John C. Kent, age 82, of Corrales, New Mexico,
May 24—John Kent John C. Kent, age 82, of Corrales, New Mexico, passed away unexpectedly but peacefully at home on May 5, 2025. A mathematician by profession and a passion for sports, John carved out a distinctive career collecting and analyzing sports injury datawork that became foundational in the emerging world of legal sports gambling. Outside of his professional life, John had a deep love for sports, especially hockey. He spent hours watching games and following his favorite teams. John is survived by his daughter Mary Kent, and grandchildren, Paxton and Lennon. John's brother William Kent died 2 days later. They will both be deeply missed by all. He will be remembered for his sharp mind, his quick wit, and his lifelong devotion to animal rescue. A private service will be announced later.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Alan Turing papers saved from shredder to be sold in Lichfield
Papers written by World War Two codebreaker Alan Turing are to go up for auction after they were found in a loft and almost 1930s collection, which included a copy of Turing's PhD dissertation, is expected to make tens of thousands of pounds when it goes under the hammer in Lichfield, Staffordshire, on 17 considered by many as the father of modern computing, played a key role in WW2 in helping to break the German Enigma codes at Bletchley Book Auctions, which is handling the sale, said the papers were originally gifted to Turing's friend and fellow mathematician Norman Routledge. After Mr Routledge died in 2013, the documents were found at his home in Bermondsey, London, and taken away by one of his of Mr Routledge's nieces, who has not been named, said they were untouched for years until the sister moved into a care daughters found the collection and "considered shredding everything" before they checked with the nieces and nephews. The niece said the family were "bowled over by the valuations and level of enthusiasm" after the collection was inspected by Rare Book papers were called offprints and were used as a method of correspondence between PhD dissertation from 1938 or 1939, called Systems of Logic Based on Ordinals, is signed by Turing and has been valued at £40,000 to £60, paper called On Computable Numbers from 1936 or 37, which introduced the world to the idea of a "universal computing machine", was also valued at £40,000 to £60, collection also includes a letter from Turing's mother Ethel, dated 16 May 1956, in which she wrote about the manner of her son's death and requests for her to write a biography. Jim Spencer, director of Rare Book Auctions, described the collection as "the most important archive" he had ever handled."These seemingly plain papers - perfectly preserved in the muted colours of their unadorned, academic wrappers - represent the foundations of computer science and modern digital computing," he WW2 Turing invented the idea of a machine that could decode and perform any set of instructions and a decade later would design an electronic computer, capable of running any he was prosecuted for homosexual acts in 1952 and was chemically castrated before he died from cyanide poisoning in 1954, with an inquest concluding received a posthumous royal pardon for his conviction in 2013. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
