special talk
I will tell the story of three best friends in 19th century Scotland and their attempt to develop an atomic theory based on knots and links. Tait, Kelvin and Maxwell were inspired by a fantastic experiment involving smoke rings, and their theories, whilst being completely wrong, inspired a new field of mathematical study which is once again becoming important in physics, chemistry and biology.
Julia Collins has completed her PhD in May 2011 at the University of Edinburgh under the supervision of Professor Andrew Ranicki. Her thesis is in a branch of topology called Knot Theory and is about studying a special class of knots called slice knots which have interesting 4-dimensional properties. She is also passionate about trying to convince as many people as possible about the beauty and amazingness of mathematics, a task which she attempts with the help of her sheep Haggis.
She is currently the Mathematics Engagement Officer at the University of Edinburgh and does a variety of things, including undergraduate lecturing, public lectures, masterclasses, research engagement, alumni relations and website development.
For further information, past talks and further outreach you can visit Julia's website.