I'm pleased to announce that Professor Harry Mairson of Brandeis University will be speaking on "Functional Geometry and the Traité de Lutherie". Professor Mairson will discuss the use of functional programming to describe the outlines of eighteenth-century stringed instruments, as explained in the 2006 book by Luthier François Denis, "Traité de Lutherie". The programming metaphor is entirely Euclidean, incloving only straightedge and compass constructions, with few (if any) numbers, and no Cartesian equations or grid. The goal is to characterize common patterns in instrument design: not only the abstraction of straightedge and compass constructions, but also of higher-order components in the instrument design process.
The meeting will take place on Wednesday, 10 April at 6:30 PM, in the Star Conference room at MIT's Stata Center (MIT 32-D463; http://whereis.mit.edu/?go=32). After the talk, we will adjourn to Mary Chung's for dinner.
I look forward to seeing you all there!