author,
mathematical explorer
Francis Su writes about the dignity of human beings and the wonder of mathematical teaching. He is the Benediktsson-Karwa Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College and a former president of the Mathematical Association of America. In 2013, he received the Haimo Award, a nationwide teaching prize for college math faculty, and in 2018 he won the Halmos-Ford writing award. His work has been featured in Quanta Magazine, Wired, and the New York Times. His book Mathematics for Human Flourishing (2020), winner of the 2021 Euler Book Prize, has been translated into 8 languages. It offers an inclusive vision of what math is, who it's for, and why anyone should learn it.
This is Su's public-facing webpage. His scholarly work can be found at his Harvey Mudd College webpage.
new book
"Like mathematics itself, Su's book is for everyone."
—Harvard Magazine, review
"'Mom, this is really good.'
S has not read anything that was not assigned to him still school went remote. So grateful."
—Mother of a teenager, tweet
"I don't much like the word 'inspiring,' but damned if I can think of a more suitable word for this book."
—Inside Higher Ed, review
"unconventional...
an invitation and a manifesto..."
—Scientific American, review
I’ve aimed this book at a wide audience—especially those of you who don’t see yourselves as “math people.” Maybe the way for you to see yourself in mathematics is not for me to convince you that math is great or that math does lots of wonderful things, but for me to show you that math is intimately tied to being human. For then your deepest human desires reveal your mathematical nature—and you only need to awaken it. My friend Christopher Jackson, who discovered math as an inmate in a federal prison, has helped me see this more clearly than ever before.
other highlights
An clip from an inteview with Quanta Magazine, about why the community of mathematicians can be exclusive, even when we don't want to be.
The challenge from Phi Beta Kappa: give a 5-minute talk about math to general audience. I chose to speak about themes from my book. At PBK's EnLighting Talks Los Angeles.
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