Society’s 100th anniversary adds up to a celebratory weekend
“The weekend of talks showed the amazing breadth of work being done by Johnian mathematicians, from current students to Honorary Fellows”
Centenary celebrations have been held to mark the 100th year of the Adams Society, the mathematical society of St John’s College, Cambridge.
The celebrations took place in the form of a weekend of inspiring talks held in the Old Divinity School on 18 and 19 February, as well as an annual dinner in Hall.
Saturday’s packed public lecture was attended by around 40 sixth formers and their parents/supporters along with Mathematics students, academics and alumni who enjoyed the talk by Professor Chris Budd, from the University of Bath, on Climate, Chaos, and Covid: how Mathematical Models Describe the Universe.
The event was supported by the generosity of alumni through the St John’s College Annual Fund and organised as part of the centenary celebrations for the Adams Society, founded in 1923.
Elsie Linley, Schools Liaison and Access Officer, said it was 'fantastic' to welcome so many sixth formers from across the UK - from Greater London to Edinburgh - for Professor Budd's lecture.
Presentations were also made on the first day of the celebrations by Professor Amanda Turner from the University of Leeds on From Lichen to Lightning: Understanding Random Growth, and Dr Rosalba Garcia-Millan, a Research Fellow in Mathematics at St John’s, on Field Theories of Active Matter.
The second day of talks saw four more lectures, covering topics including Quasiconvexity, Microstructure and Dynamics by Professor Sir John Ball, from Heriot-Watt University and Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Edinburgh, who is an Honorary Fellow of St John’s.
Dr Jack Smith, College Lecturer and Director of Studies in Pure Mathematics, and a Fellow of St John’s, said: “The weekend of talks showed the amazing breadth of work being done by Johnian mathematicians, from current students to Honorary Fellows, and it was great to see such enthusiasm from the mathematicians of the future at the inspiring public lecture. It was a particular privilege to welcome back so many alumni to the College, and to celebrate the special mathematical community that we are so lucky to have here.”
At 100 years old, the Adams Society is one of the oldest undergraduate societies. It is named after the famous St John’s mathematician, John Couch Adams, who predicted the existence of the planet Neptune using nothing but its gravitational effects on the orbit of Uranus.
The society organises mathematical talks throughout the year that are free to all members of the University.
Learn about studying Mathematics at St John’s College
Published 31/3/2023