Duels and Duality: A fable about the life & mathematics of Évariste Galois

What does the French revolution, a deadly duel and squaring a circle have to do with the birth of modern algebra? This public lecture looked at the amazing (and amazingly short) life of Évariste Galois, and the ideas he developed to solve problems that had bedevilled mathematicians for centuries.

University of Sydney academic, Prof Oded Yacobi, explored the power of symmetry in mathematics, and how seemingly abstract ideas can have profound effects…even on our lives today.

View the post-event news post for a photo gallery and companion articles, as well as the event recording:

About the speaker: Oded Yacobi is Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Sydney, where he is a member of the Algebra Group. His interests are in representation theory, which is the mathematical study of symmetry and involves many other areas of mathematics such as geometry, topology, and number theory.

Oded received his PhD in 2009 from the University of California, San Diego, and before arriving in Sydney held research positions at Tel Aviv University and the University of Toronto. Outside of the university, he can be found playing soccer with his two boys, or taking unnecessary risks surfing at Maroubra Beach.

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Larissa Fedunik-Hofman

Communications Coordinator at Sydney Mathematical Research Institute

Larissa received a PhD in solar chemistry at the University of Newcastle in 2021. As a science communicator, she is passionate about science and mathematics outreach and supporting the research ecosystem.

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