U. City High School Students Attend Science Center Lecture

ST. LOUIS, MO — More than a dozen University City High School students attended the American Mathematical Society's 2018 Arnold Ross Lecture Wednesday morning at the St. Louis Science Center, school officials said in a news release. Tadashi Tokieda, a guest lecturer from Stanford University, gave a talk titled "A World from a Sheet of Paper," which explored various topics through the lens of geometry and math.

"Starting with just a sheet of paper, folding, stacking, crumpling, sometimes tearing, we will explore a diversity of phenomena, from a magic tricks to geometry, elasticity and the traditional Japanese art of origami," the Stanford math professor writes online, describing his lecture.

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Tokieda grew up in Japan and started his career as a painter, according to his online biography. He later became a philologist, a person who studies literary texts, before switching his career to mathematics, earning his Ph.D. at Princeton and teaching at Cambridge for more than a decade.

"I am excited for our students to participate in this prestigious learning opportunity," said U. City High School Principal Michael Peoples. "This demonstrates how our students continue to excel in academics, both inside and outside the classroom setting."

Following the lecture, one U. City High Schooler, Dominic Torno, participated in a game of "Who Wants to Be a Mathematician" in which he competed with other area high school students for cash and prizes. Questions included algebra, trigonometry, geometry and probability puzzles.

University City High School was one of only seven schools invited to the lecture, officials said. The lecture series, named for Ohio State University math professor Arnold E. Ross, is meant to stimulate students' interest in math by demonstrating real-world implications beyond the classroom, according to the American Mathematical Society's website.

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