For the Love of Math

Marc Chamberland, Myra Steele Professor of Mathematics and Natural Science, loves to share his passion for math, not just with his students, but with the public, too.

On his YouTube channel, Tipping Point Math, he explains seemingly complex mathematical ideas using examples from everyday life.

For a new video, Chamberland teamed up with TEDed to explain curves of constant width and Barbier’s theorem. They say, "Why are most manhole covers round? Sure, it makes them easy to roll, and slide into place in any alignment. But there’s another, more compelling reason, involving a peculiar geometric property of circles and other shapes." That same property also explains how triangular drill bits can carve square holes. 

Chamberland says, “Why do I popularize mathematics? In my last year of high school, I discovered the inescapable beauty of mathematics. Unfortunately, it seems that many people see math only as a burden in school to be tolerated, soon to be happily forgotten. I try to communicate the ideas or essence of a particular topic without getting bogged down in the technical details. I think many more people appreciate these ideas and can see that mathematics is the science of patterns.”

Check out the new video, and when you spot that Reuleaux triangle covering a manhole, you'll know why.