Popular Culture Association National Conference
Dan attended the Popular Culture Association (PCA) national conference in Chicago March 28-30th. While at the conference, Dan presented a talk on the uses of advanced mathematics in popular fiction in the 1940s and ‘50s titled “Klein and Mobius: Twisted Tales in the Pulps.”
Dan received his PhD from Boston University studying Complex Dynamics, and he currently serves as the Rutherford Professor of Mathematics at St. Lawrence University. His research includes the dynamics of rational functions (with a particular interest in Sierpinski curve Julia sets and Julia sets related to the geometric action of circle inversion), text mining/stylometry, popular culture uses of mathematics in early 20th century pulp fiction, and mathematics pedagogy. Among other work, he has performed stylometric analyses of Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories and their various pastiches and written about H. P. Lovecraft’s use of non-Euclidean geometry for an invited paper in Lovecraft Annual. In his non-professional time, Dan enjoys spending time with his amazing spouse and their four cats, playing Dungeons & Dragons, running, and running while thinking about playing Dungeons & Dragons.
Featuring
Daniel Look
Rutherford Professor of MathematicsDan serves as the Pulp Studies Area Co-Chair for PCA, so his duties also included inviting speakers and organizing the Pulp Studies session.