Theatre-Physics & Arcadia Steven Zides - Physics Dept. Wofford College [email protected].

Theatre-Theatre-PhysicsPhysics

&&ArcadiaArcadia

Steven Zides - Physics Dept. Wofford College

[email protected]

Goals for our Goals for our CoursesCourses

Theatre Class• literary analysis

• understanding the differences between the play and other types of fiction

• thematic and structural unity

Physics Class• scientific method

• historical development of scientific ideas

• science is a work in progress

• science is good at answering the “Hows” but not the “Whys”

Inspiration for Theatre Inspiration for Theatre PhysicsPhysics

Copenhagen (by Michael Frayn)

“The Tony Award-winning play that soars at the intersection of science and art,

Copenhagen is an explosive reimagining of the mysterious wartime meeting between two Nobel laureates

to discuss the atomic bomb.”[back Cover summary of the play]

Course LayoutCourse Layout

Aristotelian Science

The Scientific Revolution

19th Century Science

20th Century Science

The Two Cultures

By Tom Stoppard

What is Arcadia What is Arcadia About?About?

Arcadia is centered around the Coverly family and their estate in Derbyshire. Oscillating back and forth between 1809 and the present, we see two different generations struggling with issues such as love, desire, life, death, Newtonian determinism, and the chaotic nature of life. In the process, Stoppard’s satirical creation is infused with numerous illusions to mathematics, mechanics, and thermodynamics.

Mathematical Ideas In Mathematical Ideas In ArcadiaArcadia

AlgebraGraphing

Euclidian GeometryFermat’s Last Theorem

Iterated Algorithms Modeling Noisy Chaotic Data

Fermat’s Last Fermat’s Last TheoremTheorem

Act I , Scene I

Septimus (the tutor) tries to instruct Thomasina (the 13 year old prodigy) on the nature of Fermat’s Last Theorem. Unfortunately, Thomasina is more interested in the current gossip and the definition of certain key words.

Iterated AlgorithmsIterated Algorithms

Act I , Scene IV

Hannah, the author researching the hermitage, discovers the 200 year old notebooks of Thomasina. Trying to understand their content, Hannah engages Valentine (the mathematician) in a discussion of iterated algorithms.

Noisy Chaotic DataNoisy Chaotic Data

Act I , Scene IV

Later in the same scene, Valentine tries to explain, to Hannah, his research on grouse populations. In the process, Valentine creates a humorous analogy between finding the mathematical rule for noisy data and spotting a piano tune.

Using Arcadia in Using Arcadia in ClassClass

1) The students read handouts on chaos theory, thermodynamics, and

heat engines.

2) The students read the play.

3) The students did a class reading of key scenes.

4) Student groups were assigned to catalogue the math and science in

a given scene. Group reports were shared with the class.

5) The play was compared to previous plays.

6) The students attended a guest lecture on “Chaos in the Theater” by

Dr. William Demastes.

7) The students attended a full play production.

8) The students critiqued the production.

Additional Additional ReferencesReferences

• Abbott, Stephen. “Lost in Shakespace.” Focus 25 . 9 (2005): 14-17.

• Demastes, William. Theatre of Chaos. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

• Devaney, Robert. “Chaos, Fractals, and Arcadia.” Boston University. 2005 <http://math.bu.edu/DYSYS/arcadia/index.html>.

• Jackson, Allyn. “Love and the Second Law of Thermodynamics: Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia.” Notices of the AMS 42 . 11 (1995): 1284-1287

• Stoppard, Tom. Arcadia. London: Faber and Faber, 1993.

• Zides, Steven. “Theatre-Physics.” Wofford College. 2005 <http://webs.wofford.edu/zidessb>.

Theatre-Theatre-PhysicsPhysics

&&ArcadiaArcadia

Steven Zides - Physics Dept. Wofford College

[email protected]