mathematics

Mathematicians of the African Diaspora

Mathematicians of the African Diaspora is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mathematicians of the African Diaspora rather than just read about it. In short: Mathematicians of the African Diaspora (MAD) is a website created in 1997 by Scott W. Williams of the University at Buffalo, SUNY dedicated to promoting and highlighting the contributions of members of the African diaspora to mathematics, especially contributions to current mathematical research.

Key takeaways

Mathematicians of the African Diaspora belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mathematicians of the African Diaspora to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mathematicians of the African Diaspora from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mathematicians of the African Diaspora (MAD) is a website created in 1997 by Scott W. Williams of the University at Buffalo, SUNY dedicated to promoting and highlighting the contributions of members of the African diaspora to mathematics, especially contributions to current mathematical research.

History Williams retired in 2008 and it was left to others to continue the website he had spent 11 years building. An initial town hall meeting about the future of the MAD Pages took place at a Conference for African American Researchers in the Mathematical Sciences (CAARMS). This led to an informal group of mathematicians who decided to work together to preserve Williams’ work. In 2015, the National Association of Mathematicians (NAM) formed an ad hoc committee to update the MAD Pages, consisting of Edray Goins as NAM President, Committee Co-Chairs Don King (Northeastern University) and Asamoah Nkwanta (Morgan State University), and web developer John Weaver (Varsity Software). The site was officially relaunched on October 9, 2020. MAD is supported by the National Association of Mathematicians (NAM) and the Educational Advancement Foundation (EAF). Since 1997 the MAD pages have been viewed by more than 20 million people.

References

External links Mathematicians of the African Diaspora Official Website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mathematicians of the African Diaspora

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mathematicians of the African Diaspora claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mathematicians of the African Diaspora before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mathematicians of the African Diaspora ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mathematicians of the African Diaspora

In research: Mathematicians of the African Diaspora appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mathematicians of the African Diaspora in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mathematicians of the African Diaspora is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics African diaspora, American educational websites, Internet properties established in 1997, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mathematicians of the African Diaspora outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Mathematicians of the African Diaspora in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mathematicians of the African Diaspora means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mathematicians of the African Diaspora out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mathematicians of the African Diaspora in simple terms?

Why does Mathematicians of the African Diaspora matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mathematicians of the African Diaspora?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mathematicians of the African Diaspora.