It is widely accepted that Greeks played a major role in the development of mathematics in ancient times. Although more contemporary Greek mathematicians may not be as famous as Pythagoras, Archimedes and Euclid, their contributions have nevertheless been profound.

Dr Anastasios Panagiotelis, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics at Monash University, will discuss the lives and achievements of two great Greek mathematicians of the 20th Century, in a lecture he will give at the Greek Centre, on Thursday 4 August 2016, as a part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

The first mathematician is Constantin Caratheodory (Κωνσταντίνος Καραθεοδωρής), who was born and spent most of his academic career in Germany, but was also the Founding Dean of the short lived Ionian University of Smyrna during the early 1920s.

The second is Nicholas Metropolis (Νικόλαος Μητρόπουλος), who was born in Chicago in 1915, worked on the Manhattan Project and was instrumental in developing some of the world's first digital computers.

In addition to celebrating their achievements, the lecture will also highlight how these two diaspora Greeks connected to their roots through mathematics and science, which have an enduring and vital presence in Greek history and culture.

Dr Anastasios Panagiotelis was born in Sydney and undertook both undergraduate and doctoral studies at the University of Sydney. After completing his PhD in 2009, he was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship and carried out post-doctoral research in the Faculty of Mathematics at the Technical University of Munich. His research involves the development and application of statistical and mathematical models to problems in business and economics. Much of his research uses the Metropolis algorithm. He has been at Monash since 2011.

When: Thursday 4 August 2016, 7:00pm
Where: Greek Centre (Mezzanine, 168 Lonsdale St, Melbourne)