Tickets for this lecture can be bought online.
Why is gambling so attractive? How do gamblers lose when they win?
The development of Mathematics has had strong links to chance, gambling and risk – from basic probability to dynamical chaos.
Those who might be tempted to gamble in the hope of making a small fortune should recognise that the easiest way to do this is to start with a large fortune.
For shuffling cards and throwing dice, this talk is intended to provide some instruction in the ways by which gambling odds may be slanted unfairly, to the profit of the card sharp or dice mechanic, at the considerable expense of the innocent and/or unwary.
Biography
Frank Berkshire is the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Mathematics.
He says on his website that his research interests are “Classical mechanics and theoretical fluid mechanics and their application to sport and gambling”.
In addition to his responsibilities for the mathematical course structure and content, he has for many years been fighting a (largely losing) battle against the rise in academic bureaucracy – subject reviews, subject benchmarks, and so on. An imminent challenge is to confront the European Bachelor/Masters structures post-Bologna, while reconciling a role as consultant for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority on Secondary level assessments – most recently through Chairing the 5-Year Review of Standards over Time for GCSE/AS/A Level Mathematics (2005).
With Professor Tom Kibble he is author of Classical Mechanics (5th Edition 2004 Imperial College/World Scientific).
Ticket prices:
- Members of Friends of Imperial College: £5
- Staff of Imperial College: £3
- Students: £3
- Alumni, guests and others: £10