Dr. Ken Hicks
Ohio University
February 8, 2012 Wednesday, 3:00 PM Gosnold 202
Dr. Heather Hoffman
George Washington University
March 14, 2012 Wednesday, 3:00 PM Gosnold 202
Among the Creationists
Dr. Jason Rosenhouse
November 15, 4-5 p.m.
Forbes Hall, 1022
In 1999, the Kansas State Board of Education voted to remove the theory of Darwinian evolution from its state science standards. In 2000, I accepted a post-doctoral position in mathematics at Kansas State University. The juxtaposition of these two events led to my persistent interest in evolution and creationism. For the past decade I have indulged that interest by becoming a regular attendee at creationist conferences and other gatherings. This experience has provided me with a better understanding of why evolution continues to provoke so much opposition. In this talk I shall relate a number of anecdotes that are typical of my experiences among the creationists, explain the major aspects of creationist thought and argumentation, and discuss how these issues relate more broadly to questions about the relationship between science and religion.
The Monty Hall Problem, Reconsidered
Dr. Jason Rosenhouse
November 16, 3-4 p.m.
The Freeman Center, 202
Imagine that you are a game show contestant. You are shown three doors, and you are told that one of them conceals a car. The other two conceal goats. You choose one of the three doors, but do not open it. The host of the show now opens one of the other two doors, carefully always to open one that conceals a goat. He now gives you the options of either sticking with your door, or of switching to the other unopened door. Which option should you choose to maximize your chances of winning the car? This is the Monty Hall problem, and it fools just about everyone. The intuitively obvious answer, that it makes no difference whether you stick or switch, turns out to be incorrect. There is actually a big advantage to be gained from switching doors when permitted to do so. We shall explore the history of the problem and explain why the obvious answer is incorrect. We shall then show how variations on the problem can be used to promote clear thinking about probability.
TBA
November 30, 3 p.m.
Gosnold Hall, 202
