MathWorld Headline News

Say Hello to MathWorld Author Eric Weisstein at this Year's Joint Mathematics Meeting

By Eric W. Weisstein

January 13, 2003--This year's annual Joint Mathematics Meeting of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America with be held January 15-18 at the Baltimore Conventional Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

Among the many talks, exhibits, and events taking place this year will be one additional opportunity for mathematical interaction that's not listed on any program. This is the chance to meet MathWorld author and creator Eric Weisstein, who will be attending the meeting as part of the exhibitor team from Wolfram Research.

Although I've been fortunate to interact with thousands of students and teachers of mathematics over the last several years, getting a chance to meet fellow lovers and practitioners of math in person is always a real treat. So please feel free to stop by, chat, and offer any comments or suggestions you might have on how MathWorld can be made an even better resource for mathematics.

Joining me at the Wolfram Research booth will be Michael Trott, author of the Mathematical Functions website. This site is the largest and most complete online resource devoted to the elementary and special functions of mathematics and mathematical physics.

Starting at the end of last year, the MathWorld and Functions websites became the focal point of a National Science Foundation digital library grant. This grant funds development of new interactive components for the sites and expansion of their content into second-generation digital libraries. This work is being carried out by teams at Wolfram Research, led by Michael and me, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, led by faculty from the Mathematics and Engineering libraries and the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. The Principal Investigator for this project is William Mischo, directory of the Grainger Engineering Library, with co-investigators Timothy Cole of the Mathematics Library and Hassan Aref from the TAM Department. This collaboration is already proving immensely productive and fruitful, and we welcome discussions about other potential collaborative undertakings.

Also joining Michael and me at the Wolfram Research booth will be former MathWorld essayist Todd Rowland. Readers of MathWorld will recognize Todd's name as the largest single contributor to MathWorld (other than me). Todd has now moved on to other projects at Wolfram Research, and will be available to discuss Stephen Wolfram's book A New Kind of Science, and especially its importance to mathematicians.

The Joint Mathematics Meeting Exhibits will be held at the Baltimore Convention Center, Hall A, on January 15-18, 2003. Hours of operation are summarized in the table below. So please stop by the Wolfram Research booth, either to just say hello, or to ask questions about Mathematica, NKS Explorer, or other Wolfram Research products.