It’s hard to imagine getting very far in mathematics without stumbling upon Pascal’s triangle. According to Wikipedia, the concept occurred even as far back as the 2nd century BC in India. The cover is a graphical depiction of the triangle, and in this issue’s Mathematical Buffet, you can find more graphic depictions of various aspects of this famous triangle of numbers, including images created by Sofia Egan and Yancheng Zhao, two 8th graders at the Buckingham, Browne, and Nichols Middle School. The triangle features prominently in Robert Donley’s article Pascal’s Triangle, the Binomial Theorem, and Chu-Vandermonde Convolution, where he presents several ways of interpreting the entries in Pascal’s triangle. If you were to create an image of Pascal’s triangle, how would you depict it?
In the last issue, we concluded our 3-part interview with University of Wisconsin, Madison Associate Professor of Mathematics Tullia Dymarz. One of the reasons we interviewed Prof. Dymarz is because she runs a wonderful program for high school girls called Girls Night Out! However, in her interview, she mentioned that the program was actually founded by her colleague Prof. Gloria Marí Beffa. So in this issue, we are pleased to present an interview with Gloria Marí Beffa. In addition to asking about her motivations for creating Girls Night Out!, we also discuss problem solving strategies and her unique route into mathematics.
Anna Ma and her cat return for an installment of Needell in the Haystack about data collection, which has changed dramatically with the advent of modern technology. Emily and Jasmine further their understanding of magic grids, and we conclude with some Notes from the Club.
We hope you enjoy it!
Finally, a reminder: when you subscribe to the Girls’ Angle Bulletin, you’re not just getting a subscription to a magazine. You are also gaining access to the Girls’ Angle mentors. We urge all subscribers and members to write us with your math questions or anything else in the Bulletin or having to do with mathematics in general. We will respond. We want you to get active and do mathematics. Parts of the Bulletin are written to induce you to wonder and respond with more questions. Don’t let those questions fade away and become forgotten. Send them to us!
Also, the Girls’ Angle Bulletin is a venue for students who wish to showcase their mathematical achievements that go above and beyond the curriculum. If you’re a student and have discovered something nifty in math, considering submitting it to the Bulletin.
We continue to encourage people to subscribe to our print version, so we have removed some content from the electronic version. Subscriptions are a great way to support Girls’ Angle while getting something concrete back in return. We hope you subscribe!
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