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4/9/01

MATHEMATICIAN JEFF WEEKS TO DISCUSS 'SHAPE OF SPACE' AT SLU

CANTON -- Mathematician and MacArthur Fellow Jeffrey Weeks, of 
Canton, will give the 2001 Alfred Romer Lecture at St. Lawrence 
University on Tuesday, April 17, at 8 p.m. in Hepburn Auditorium 
on "The Shape of Space." The talk is intended for a general audience, 
of middle-school-age through adults, and is free of charge.
	The first half of the presentation uses computer games to show 
that space may not be infinite -- it may be finite, yet have no boundary. 
Interactive 3-D graphics will then take viewers on a tour of several 
possible "shapes" of space, concluding with an explanation of the "Big 
Bang" and how radiation remaining from it may reveal the true shape of 
our universe.
	Weeks describes himself as a "freelance mathematician." He holds 
a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Dartmouth College and a master's 
degree and Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton University. He develops 
curricular materials to introduce "finite universes" to middle and high 
school classes; develops research software for creating and studying 
finite universes and prepares software to be used in determining the 
shape of the real universe from cosmic microwave data. 
	Weeks has held faculty appointments at Princeton University, 
Stockton State College, Ithaca College and Middlebury College. He has 
held, or holds, research grants from the Geometry Center, Brigham Young 
University, The Finnish Science Center and the National Science 
Foundation. Weeks' book The Shape of Space is an approachable 
introduction to topological analysis that has received high honors 
from the International Congress of Mathematicians, and the award-winning 
video "The Shape of Space" introduces the same ideas to students in 
grades six through 10. 
	The Romer Lecture was established to honor Physics Professor 
Emeritus Alfred Romer, who had been associated with St. Lawrence for 
over 50 years.

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