The Simon's Rock Math Club

Whether you are a math major or just a first-year student curious about math, Math Club welcomes you to join us! There are no prerequisites to join, and we promote the appreciation of math in a casual setting. We encourage and support mathematical creativity, ingenuity, and collaboration.

The club meets weekly to discuss math, do puzzles and challenging problems, socialize with faculty and like-minded peers, watch videos, and much more. We participate in mathematics competitions, attend conferences, and hold social events for math enthusiasts.

Problem-Solving

Problem-solving is one of the main focuses of our club. Students are encouraged to work together to solve problems from past math competitions, math magazines, or anywhere else.

Putnam Exam

The annual Putnam mathematical competition for undergraduates is held on the first Saturday of December. More than 4000 students from over 500 colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada take part in the competition. It is the most prestigious college-level mathematics examination in the world. The test consists of 12 mathematics problems worth 10 points each. The test is six hours long and held in two sittings.

In the fall, Math club focuses on problem-solving to prepare for the exam. One year, Simon's Rock's team finished in 13th place!

Putnam Exam
Past Exam Archive (maintained by Kiran Kedlaya)

Math Magazines

The Math Club has subscriptions to Math Horizons (published by the Mathematical Association of America) and Crux Mathematicorum (published by the Canadian Mathematical Society). Both have problems that students can solve, and they welcome submissions of solutions for publication in future issues.

Talks

In some meetings, student, faculty, alumni, or guest speakers present their latest mathematical exploits. Members are welcomed to give talks on topics of their choice. Past topics have included neural nets, the theory of distributions, and de Bruijin sequences. Many talks go beyond the courses currently being offered at Simon's Rock, giving the students the chance to get a taste of advanced topics in a friendly, informal setting.

Pi Day

Each year, on or around March 14, the math club celebrates Pi Day. We’ll celebrate Pi Day by estimating pi, reciting as many digits of pi as we know (trillions of digits have been computed---do you know them all?), performing pi-related plays, proving that pi is between three and four, and of course by eating pie.

Math Listserv

All math club announcements are announced on the math club listserv. Announcements include math club meetings, special talks by outside speakers, and trips to conferences in the area. To sign up to get these announcements, follow the link below.

Math Announce Listserv