mathematics

Petra Bonfert-Taylor

Petra Bonfert-Taylor 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 Petra Bonfert-Taylor rather than just read about it. In short: Petra Bonfert-Taylor is a German-born mathematician known for research in complex analysis and her work in web development for the International Mathematical Union (IMU) Committee for Women in Mathematics. She is a professor of engineering and Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Petra Bonfert-Taylor is a German-born mathematician known for research in complex analysis and her work in web development for the International Mathematical Union (IMU) Committee for Women in Mathematics. She is a professor of engineering and Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Education, career, and recognition Bonfert-Taylor was born, raised, and educated in Berlin, Germany. She received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in mathematics and computer science from Technische Universität Berlin and her PhD (summa cum laude) in mathematics from the same institution in 1996 under the supervision of Christian Pommerenke. She was on the faculty on Wesleyan University from 1999 to 2015. She joined the faculty of Dartmouth in 2015. Bonfert-Taylor helped develop the website for the International Mathematical Union (IMU) and serves on IMU's Committee for Women in Mathematics, whose purpose is "to promote international contacts between national and regional organizations from women in mathematical sciences." In 2018, Bonfert-Taylor was named the New Hampshire High Tech Council's Tech Teacher of the Year. In 2019, Bonfert-Taylor and Rémi Sharrock from Institut Mines-Télécom of France earned the edX Prize for Exceptional Contributions in Online Learning and Teaching for their Professional Certification program in C Programming with Linux. Bonfert-Taylor was elected a fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics in the Class of 2020 "for her work as a U.S. liaison and in web creation and management for the IMU's Committee on Women in Mathematics; for development and study of programs building inclusivity in STEM; and for becoming an example of broadening research interests, by adding research in medical imaging to work in complex analysis."

References

External links Official website Petra Bonfert-Taylor publications indexed by Google Scholar Petra Bonfert-Taylor's Profile on MathSciNet

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Petra Bonfert-Taylor

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Petra Bonfert-Taylor 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 Petra Bonfert-Taylor 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 Petra Bonfert-Taylor 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 Petra Bonfert-Taylor

In research: Petra Bonfert-Taylor 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 Petra Bonfert-Taylor 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: Petra Bonfert-Taylor is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century German mathematicians, 21st-century German women mathematicians, Dartmouth College faculty, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Petra Bonfert-Taylor 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.

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How to study Petra Bonfert-Taylor in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Petra Bonfert-Taylor 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 Petra Bonfert-Taylor out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Petra Bonfert-Taylor in simple terms?

Why does Petra Bonfert-Taylor 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 Petra Bonfert-Taylor?

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 Petra Bonfert-Taylor.