Dr. Moira Chas on “Making Math with Yarn and Wire”

Posted on March 22, 2024 by Clara Tran

On Monday, March 4, 2024, Dr. Moira Chas presented the first lecture of the Spring 2024 STEM Speakers Series at the University Libraries.

During the lecture, Dr. Chas described that a topologist looks at surfaces with a different perspective. She introduced to the audience various types of surfaces such as orientable and non-orientable. Dr. Chas further explained that “a surface is orientable if it is “2-sided” or equivalently, if it does not contain a Möbius strip.” A non-orientable surface is “one-sided,” for instance, a Klein bottle. Dr. Chas brilliantly uses yarn and wire to weave all the beautiful mathematical objects to demonstrate the mathematical theories.

The lecture was well-attended by students, faculty, and staff. The intriguing lecture sparked interesting and thought provoking questions from attendees during and after the lecture. Dr. Chas praised the attendees as “it was an outstanding audience.” She was also interviewed by a journalism student after the talk.