USD Magazine Spring 2021

Unso l ved math probl ems subj ec t of prof es sor ’ s book [ f r e s h - t h i n k i n g ] W O R K I N G I T O U T about cold facts and formulas. We want to change this and bring these worlds together.” Mage Merlin’s Unsolved Mathematical Mysteries is N by Elena Gomez

time, they did subsequently dis- cover some mutual friends and acquaintances. “I learned so many skills from the military, but I learned soft skills frommy time at USD,” says Kim. “I learned how to communicate and how to appreciate other per- spectives. I learned the scientific method, which can be applied to any problem in life. Having the evidence show you the answer and having the humility to accept that you might be wrong. Those are principles to academia, but they’re also principles to being a good human being.” Dominick was fascinated by all things skyward from a young age. “Watching rockets launch, watching the shuttle launch as a kid, was an enabler for me. It’s like ‘How do I become a part of that?’” After graduating from USD, he did his post-graduate work as a naval test pilot. “It’s certainly a sacrifice for family and friends, being in the military. We would go on deploy- ments and lose contact with them, and they understood the risk that we were taking,” Dominick says. “When you think about the im- mense responsibility put on you at times, you don’t want to let the world down.” “It makes me immensely proud to be part of an organization to achieve such a monumental chal- lenge, like returning to the moon,” says Kim. “And that’s what really excites me, when I think of Arte- mis. The lives that we’re going to positively impact on this endeavor.” The pair are both ready for their next adventure. “My previ- ous job was to keep the world from going backwards. This job is about getting the world to go forward,” says Dominick. “I am an astronaut,” says Kim. “And I have this amazing oppor- tunity to serve my country and humanity.”

obody is good at math, even math professors. That’s something that Satyan Devadoss, PhD, Fletcher Jones Chair and professor of mathematics at USD wants you to embrace. “When people get disheart- ened and say ‘I’m really not good at math,’ I actually want to say, ‘I agree with you, you’re not good at math. But neither am I,’” says Devadoss. He’s hoping to level the playing field in a book he recently co- authored, titled Mage Merlin’s Unsolved Mathematical Mysteries . The richly illustrated, story- driven volume shows that there are math problems even mathe- maticians can’t figure out — which doesn’t mean that people can’t try. The puzzles are acces- sible to anyone with basic math skills, and the book’s audience includes parents of junior high and older children, puzzle lovers and educators looking for ways to improve math education for K-12 and beyond. “Mathematicians have been trying to crack some of these problems for hundreds of years, but we might be looking at it the wrong way,” he explains. “Maybe you — as an artist, musician, political scientist or plumber — can think of a fresh approach.” Readers are transported back in time to play with 16 unsolved math problems woven into the story of Camelot. Readers work alongside famous characters like Excalibur, the Knights of the Roundtable, Merlin, along with a narrator, Maryam, who is inspired

by the first female Fields medal- ist, Maryam Mirzakhani. “Merlin is sort of like Mac- Gyver. Arthur, Guinevere and the Knights called him to solve problems and figure out puzzles nobody else can. Merlin keeps a journal of problems that even he couldn’t solve. This is a col- lection of those stories.” Merlin and Maryam guide readers through the math problems, allowing them to see that stories are everywhere, including in math. “We think humanities and the arts deal with beautiful stories and images, but math is on the opposite end of the spectrum,

meant for just about anyone, and the puzzles inspire readers to collaborate, think outside the box and just have fun. “This book is about you playing with beautiful math puzzles and building things no one has ever built before,” says Devadoss. “It’s not about following in- structions, but going off-road and having an adventure.”

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s a n d i e g o . e d u / a r t e m i s

B A R B A R A F E R G U S O N / A L L Y S O N M E Y E R

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Spr ing 2021