In memoriam Elaine Bosowski (1952-1998), stricken by cancer in the prime of her life. The joy, inspiration, and love she brought to everyone she knew and everything she did remains vibrant and alive.
Dr. Timothy FeemanDepartment of Mathematical Sciences,
Villanova
University,
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I will be in the office only intermittently between May12 and August 25, 2008. I can be reached by email at click here for link
Teaching Schedule Spring 2008: January 14 to May 8.
MAT 2500-001 Calculus III; CRN 33237; MWF
1:30 to 2:20 pm in Mendel 256 and Tues. 2:30 to 3:20 pm in Mendel G86.
course web page
Final Exam:
Thursday, May 8, from 8:00 to 10:30 am, in
Mendel 256.
MAT 5920-002 Topics: Medical Imaging; CRN 33752; MWF
10:30 to 11:20 am in Mendel 115.
course web page
Final Exam:
Tuesday, May 6, from 1:30 to 4:00 pm, in
Mendel 115.
Direct involvement in the education of mathematics majors is extremely important to me. I have frequently taught such courses as Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, and Advanced Calculus. During 1999 and 2000, I taught the Foundations in Mathematics course (Math 2600) twice. During the Fall 1995 term, I taught the senior seminar, Math 5900, with the topic "Introduction to Hilbert Spaces". I taught the seminar again in 2001 and in 2004 with Mathematical Cartography as the theme. More recently, Al Marrero and I have co-taught the seminar under the title Research Experience, where our goal has been to introduce every math major to the world of mathematical research through reading, studying, and explaining articles in real mathematics journals and then formulating and working to solve original problems inspired by the reading. Among the graduate courses I have taught are Linear Algebra, Advanced Calculus, and Real Analysis.
In an attempt to make mathematics more interesting and current to liberal arts students, I have created my own version of Math 1210 (Mathematical Concepts) in which we discuss, read about, and write about the mathematics of symmetry, modular arithmetic and the Chinese Remainder Theorem, how to use our knowledge of prime numbers to create secret codes, and the twists and turns of geometry involved in making flat maps of our round world.
Finally, both as a change of pace and to broaden my own horizons as a professor, I have taught the Core Humanities Seminar in Modern Thought through the Honors Program, focusing on the influence of scientific thinkers such as Descartes, Pascal, and Einstein on our modern view of the world.
My original area of research is the theory of operators on Hilbert spaces which was recently described by Louis de Branges (in the October 1994 Bulletin of the American Math. Society) as "the field of mathematics that has the strongest interaction with the scientific and technological developments which are characteristic of the twentieth century." Beginning with my Ph.D. thesis on problems of best approximation from compact perturbations of nest algebras, my research has focused mainly on algebras of operators and specifically on nest algebras. Most recently, I have written several papers which collectively provide complete characterizations in algebraic (as opposed to topological) terms of the Bourgain algebra and higher order Bourgain algebras associated to a nest algebra.
More recently, my scholarly efforts have gone in two principal directions. First, inspired by the Cartographiometry course I developed with Dr. Elaine Bosowski, I have been led to explore the connections between mathematics and cartography beyond the basic level we had introduced in our course. First, Elaine and I wrote a paper (appearing in the journal Cartographica) on the application of mathematics to certain elements of map analysis that we felt would be accessible to most professional cartographers. (The date of the issue is misleading. Though labeled as "Winter 1997", it actually appeared in late 1998, after Dr. Bosowski's death.) Next, I contributed an article to the SIAM Review based on material from the Cartographiometry course. Most recently, taking a somewhat different tack, I have explored how a cartographic point of view can provide insight into mathematical problems. For instance, my Polya Award-winning paper Conformality, the exponential function, and world map projections (published in The College Mathematics Journal, volume 32, November 2001) takes a cartographic approach to the problem of constructing conformal mappings of surfaces of revolution into the plane and demonstrates without the use of any complex analysis the important mathematical fact that the complex exponential function is conformal. I believe this point of view makes the subject of conformal mapping more intuitive and more accessible to college mathematics teachers and their students. This work culminated with the publication, in 2002, of my book, Portraits of the Earth: A Mathematician Looks at Maps, by the American Mathematical Society.
The second main direction of my recent research has been a collaboration with my colleague Al Marrero that began in the autumn of 1996 when we read and mulled over several papers of mutual interest. We have now published five (six? seven?) papers with more in progress.
2002 Polya
Award
The Mathematical Association of America named me as the
recipient of the 2002 George Polya Award for Expository Writing; The award was
made on 2 August
2002 at MathFest 2002 in Burlington, Vermont.
Click here for a photo of me
accepting the award. (Thanks to Dennis DeTurck for taking
the photo.)
Click here for
the citation and my response.
**2002 MAA Polya Prize for expository writing**
Conformality, the exponential
function, and world map projections, College
Math Journal, Volume 32, Number 5, November 2001, pp. 334--342. pdf file
The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, run by the Mathematical Association of America, is a prestigious competition for undergraduate students of mathematics. Begun in 1938, the competition is designed to stimulate a healthy rivalry amongst the colleges and universities of the United States and Canada.
The competition is held each year on the first Saturday in December and is open to regularly enrolled undergraduates in the United States and Canada who have not yet received their degrees. The five highest ranking individuals are designated as Putnam Fellows and their departments receive cash awards. Each year, one Putnam Fellow receives a scholarship to attend graduate studies at Harvard or Radcliffe. The Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Prize is awarded for "particularly meritorious" performance by a woman contestant. Locally, the Mathematical Sciences Department at Villanova offers a prize of a one-year student membership in the Mathematical Association of America to the highest ranking Villanovan contestant.
As the faculty advisor for Villanova's effort in the Putnam Competition, I organize practice sessions in the weeks leading up to the competition and otherwise help our contestants to prepare. Participating in the Putnam Competition is an illuminating experience -- please join us this year!
Pi Mu Epsilon is a national honorary mathematics society. Each year, the best junior and senior (and occasional brilliant sophomore) mathematics majors are inducted into Villanova's Chapter, which I serve as faculty advisor. For more information, see me or the Department Chair. Visit the National Office of Pi Mu Epsilon's official website.
| Exploration of the geometry involved in making maps of the world led to my collaboration with Dr. Elaine F. Bosowski, late of Villanova's Geography Department. Together we developed an introductory level interdisciplinary Math/Geography course which we dubbed "Cartographiometry". In the course, which was offered in 1996 and 1997, we examined the historical relationship between mathematics and geography, especially cartography, from Eratosthenes to the present. We discussed the general mathematical problems posed by making flat maps of the sphere and introduced in this context such basic concepts of non-Euclidean geometry as curvature and geodesics. From a cartographic perspective, we investigated the uses of maps and the evolution of map-making as well as the various elements of Cartographic Communications Systems. The students also learned the mathematical and cartographic tools needed for the construction of maps having specific desired properties, such as preserving areas or shapes of land masses, and then actually constructed these maps from scratch in a laboratory setting using the computer algebra system Maple as an aid. |
In memoriam Elaine Bosowski (1952-1998), stricken by cancer in the prime of her life. The joy, inspiration, and love she brought to everyone she knew and everything she did remains vibrant and alive.
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Outside of mathematics, I have a variety of interests that keep me going. Foremost among these are my sons, Max and Simon. They are amazing people and a ton of fun to hang out with. Current heroes: Pete Townsend and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
I got talked into running the Philadelphia Marathon in November of 1996, even though I hadn't really trained properly for such an event. I finished completely exhausted but with a respectable time of 3:20:51. Mostly I became inspired to take up running as a sport, rather than as a means of keeping fit, for the first time in my life. Now I run about 35 miles each week (still modest by "serious" runners' standards) and am a member of the Bryn Mawr Running Club. Some of my personal bests are: 1:04:27 for 10 miles (Broad Street Run, Philadelphia, PA, 1997); 30:45 for 5 miles (Red Rose Run, Lancaster, PA, 1997); 1:21:59 for the half-marathon (Philadelphia Distance Run, 1997); 18:12 in the 5K (Bryn Mawr Shut Up and Run, 1997); 38:55 in the 10K (Philadelphia Zoo Run, 1999); 3:12:21 in the marathon (Philadelphia Marathon, 1997). I also ran the 102nd (1998) and 103rd (1999) Boston Marathons.
I spent over a quarter of a century playing Ultimate (frisbee), which I first learned as an undergraduate at Brandeis University. I co-captained the championship team in the first annual Philadelphia Ultimate Summer League back in 1985 and was thrilled to be on the championship team once again in 1997. In 1990, in Oslo, Norway, I was on the U.S. National team that won the World Championships in the Masters Division (30 years old and up). I retired from club play back in 1993, but still keep a disc in my office, just in case the opportunity arises! For local Ultimate info, contact the Philadelphia Area Disc Alliance (PADA); For the national and international scene, check out the Ultimate Players Association.
My commitment to working for peace, justice, and a socialist alternative began in the late 1960's and early '70's when I accompanied my mother to anti-Vietnam War protests and my family supported the United Farm Workers' grape boycott. Subsequent involvement in the anti-apartheid, anti-nuclear weapons, and Central American solidarity movements, among other things, has strengthened my convictions and my confidence in the power of mass action as a force for democracy and progressive change.
In June, 1996, I participated in the first (and only, as it turned out) Philadelphia-to-D.C. AIDS Ride. Along with 1900 other everyday people, I bicycled 235 miles from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., over seemingly endless hills, across rivers, in and out of valleys, through the beautiful countryside of Pennsylvania and Maryland, to heighten awareness of the urgency of the AIDS epidemic and to raise money for local service organizations providing vitally needed assistance and information to people with AIDS, their friends, lovers, and families. It was an exhilarating experience filled with the spirit of dedication, courage, commitment, and love that each and every rider and support crew member brought to it.
I also enjoy cycling (mostly road, but mountain's okay too), cross-country skiing, and backpacking. During a sabbatical stay in England in 1995, I developed a fondness for the British countryside (not to mention afternoon tea and orange marmalade), and especially the English Lake District.
Speaking of England, check out the cryptic crossword puzzles in The Times (London) -- as addictive as they are inscrutable!
Apart from being a rank amateur on several musical instruments (several brass instruments, penny whistle, guitar, and now learning to play electric bass), I have a decent collection of record albums (and a turntable to play them on!), CD's, and tapes, mainly jazz, folk, and "alternative" rock.
22-may-2008