The thirty-fifth Virtual Encounter with Outstanding Mathematicians took place on Thursday, June 23rd, 2022 from 4 pm until 5 pm. Maria João Resende, Professor of Mathematics at the Fluminense Federal University in Brazil, was our invited speaker. This virtual event was free and open to the general public.
On this thirty-fifth Encounter, Maria João Resende shared anecdotes of her personal life and her professional journey as a female mathematician. The speaker also presented on “Symmetry and the Magic Theorem.” In this virtual event, Maria João Resende explained that the paper wall or mosaic is a pattern that repeats periodically without overlapping the figures and without leaving any empty spaces between them. The speaker mentioned the mathematicians Yevgraf Fyodorov, William Thurston and John Conway and highlighted that Thurston proved that there are only 17 types of paper walls but it was Conway who published and popularized this result known as the Magic Theorem. Maria João Resende also invited the participants to find and classify patterns in their city.
