Presentation by Dr Des Fitzgerald
Royal Society of Tasmania Room
Tuesday, 1st September 2009 Commencing 8.00pm until 10.00pm
Mathematician
About the Speaker
Des FitzGerald was educated at Frenchville and Ithaca Creek primary schools, and The Gap high school, all in Queensland. After a Science degree at the University of Queensland, he completed a PhD in algebra at Monash University. He taught secondary science and mathematics in Victoria and Queensland before taking a post at the TCAE in Launceston, which morphed into his current senior lectureship at the University of Tasmania. He researches in the algebra of partial symmetries and also collaborates as a statistician in research projects, mainly in the health and social sciences.
Brief Abstract of the Talk
I’ll try to identify what has changed in the mathematical sciences, and what has not, over the last 40-odd years. Then I’ll try to predict the directions that mathematics may take in coming decades, globally and locally. Finally I’ll consider how Australia (and Tasmania in particular) is positioned for these changes.
