UNC Asheville Holds Fourth Annual Parsons' Lecture;
Noted Mathematician Doris Schattschneider to Speak

Renowned mathematician Doris Schattschneider will deliver the fourth annual UNC Asheville Parsons’ Lecture at 7 p.m. Monday, April 4, in UNC Asheville’s Lipinsky Auditorium. Schattschneider’s talk, “Ingenious Mathematical Amateurs: M.C. Escher (Artist) and Marjorie Rice (Homemaker),” is presented by UNC Asheville’s Mathematics Department. The event is free and open to the public.

Schattschneider will deconstruct the belief widely held in the mathematical community that it is impossible for someone without formal mathematics credentials to engage in worthwhile research or to make any contributions to the field. Schattschneider will give two examples of such untrained mathematicians who did contribute to the field: the well-known Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher and Marjorie Rice, an unknown San Diego homemaker. Each tackled problems that ask which types of shapes can tile the plane and in what manner. Each developed an unorthodox notion that was an essential component of their methodical investigations. Each worked alone. Schattschneider will contrast their questions and methods with those of mathematicians and scientists who have investigated similar questions.

Schattschneider is professor of mathematics at Moravian College, where she has taught since 1968. She is an expert on Escher and her book “M.C. Escher: Visions of Symmetry” has become a mathematical classic. Schattschneider was geometer and senior associate on the National Science Foundation’s Visual Geometry Project, which produced “The Geometer’s Sketchpad” software along with video games and activity books on polyhedra and symmetry. In 1993, she received the Mathematics Association of America’s award for distinguished teaching of college or university mathematics. Schattschneider holds a doctorate in mathematics from Yale University.

UNC Asheville's Parsons' Lecture showcases well-known mathematicians who are able to explain their field of study to a general audience. The lecture is made possible by an endowment from an alumnus in honor of former UNC Asheville mathematics professor Joe Parsons.

For more information, call UNC Asheville's Mathematics Department at 828/251-6556.

Media Contacts:

• Dr. Mark MacLean, UNC Asheville Assistant Mathematics Professor, 828/232-5190

• Jill Yarnall, UNC Asheville Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526