Mathematician and novelist Manil Suri talks about the synergy between his dual careers. In particular, his experiences in using fiction and narrative to motivate the learning of mathematics, both in informal outreach and formal classroom settings. He gives examples from his new book, The Big Bang of Numbers, to show how introducing playfulness, humor, and most of all, connectedness with the world around us, can help counter negative preconceptions of math and foster engagement with the subject.

Speaker Bio

Manil Suri is a distinguished mathematics professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. His novels The Death of Vishnu, The Age of Shiva and The City of Devi have won several prizes and been cumulatively translated into 27 languages. His latest book, The Big Bang of Numbers: How to Build the Universe Using Only Math was a finalist for the 2023 PEN/E.O. Wilson literary science writing award.