Birmingham Popular Maths Lecture - Mighty Morphogenesis, or how the fish go

"During his short life Alan Turing revolutionised the fields of logic, computation, mathematics and cryptoanalysis, doing all of this before he was even 42. Here, I will present a celebration of his work and focus on one of his least well-known theories about the construction of patterns and its applications to biological complexity. This work was so far ahead of its time that it took another 30-40 years before it was fully appreciated and, even today, it is still able to provide new avenues of research.

Starting from an intuitive understanding of his theory I will lead you through 60 years of beauty in terms of mathematics and patterns. Critically, by the end of the talk you should understand why mathematicians love cheetahs, but hate ring tailed lemurs."

Dr. Thomas Woolley, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford.

The Birmingham Popular Mathematics Lectures are open to all members of the public and the University who are interested in the study of Mathematics. They are particularly suitable for those studying Mathematics at A Level and we also welcome advanced GCSE students. Young people are welcome on their own, with parents or with a school group.

The lectures are free of charge and in general there is no need to register. The lectures start at 7.30pm and last one hour, please arrive in the Watson building from 7pm onwards. If you are travelling by minibus please contact us to arrange parking, otherwise please see the University's general travel information which includes a campus map, where the Watson Building is labelled R15.