Uses of Mathematics today: How Mathematics helps solve the world’s problems 3pm Saturday 12 November 2022, in the St John’s Centre at St John’s in the City, corner of Willis Street and Dixon Street Can 42 actually be the answer to the ultimate question? Can an equation take over the world? Can mathematics unlock lockdowns and quarantine pandemics? The next few decades of human development will depend on big data, AI, genetic editing, quantum computing, space travel and other fields that are, in essence, entirely dependent on mathematics. Quantum particles are too small, space too far, data too plentiful and AI too unpredictable to experiment on these things in traditional ways. Scientists in these fields typically no longer rely on experimental data to tell them what is true or not, instead, they rely on the language of mathematics to describe the world. But is this trust justified? What are the differences between science and mathematics? And where does God fit in? About the speaker: Dr Gray Manicom is a young mathematician interested in dynamical systems. His recent PhD is in the study of memory effects in heteroclinic networks. He is a research fellow in the Department of Physics at the University of Auckland, modelling and investigating the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic on a network. He loves cricket, movies and talking about ideas. Please see our Events Page for information regarding future events affiliated with the IEEE New Zealand Central Section.