OLLI-MATH-5021 - Math Curiosities: Fibonacci, Golden Rectangle & Parthenon, Friday the 13th

Course Description

How are Fibonacci and Golden Rectangles and the Parthenon related to rabbits? Must there be a Friday the 13th every calendar year? Can a circle be drawn through any three points not on a straight line – how, or why not? How many randomly-selected people assures a better than 50-50 chance of a birth month-and-day match? Are all triangles isosceles? We will answer the preceding questions. Goldbach’s Conjecture and other unsolved or solvable problems will be discussed, along with more chosen by participants, as time allows. Inquisitiveness and algebra and basic geometry are helpful skills. Choosing this course demonstrates to your friends, and particularly to your grandchildren, that you are interested in mathematics … and that they should be too. Alert: This is a blend of my first offering in 2013 (Curiosities in Mathematics), later presented in 5 locations 8 more times through 2020, and my third offering in 2014 (Math Fun: Fibonacci, Golden Rectangles & Parthenon), later in 4 locations 4 more times, through 2016.