In the Classroom Like in a Theatre: Mathematics, Infinity and Freedom

MARCO LIPPI'S PERFORMANCE, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, EXPLAINS THE DISCIPLINE TO A NON SPECIALIST AUDIENCE AND MAKES US UNDERSTAND WHY TO LOVE AND STUDY IT

Mathematics is like the race to the moon according to JF Kennedy: we do not choose it because it is easy, but because it is difficult. Mathematics is like Clint Eastwood, someone who always goes all the way. Mathematics is like Giacomo Leopardi, because it make us understand what infinity is. And a mathematician can be like an actor, and explain what his discipline is - and why we should love it - from a stage.
 
That’s what Marco Lippi (fellow of the Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance, even if he says "I am only a mathematician") will do at Bocconi (Tuesday, October 1, 12:30pm, Classroom N37, Velodrome, Piazza Sraffa 13) reciting the monologue Mathematics Explained to My Neighbours in a show with free admission.
 
The play was created in July 2018 at the Festival des Antipodes in Bataville, France, for a series of performances in which showmen, but also sportsmen and researchers, explain their craft to the public.
 
Marco Lippi was invited to perform at Bocconi by Carlo Favero, whose term as Director of the Department of Finance is expiring in these weeks. «It's a beautiful text», he says, «and I like to conclude my mandate with an event of great significance like this performance». Because mathematics, those who follow the show to the end will understand, can warrant you nothing less than freedom.

by Fabio Todesco