The circle holds a legendary place in the empire of art and mathematics. Drawn by every child at some point, this simple shape emanates elegance. Much of our sense of wonder and awe in basic mathematics stems from the manipulation of the circle. Extending this sense of simplicity and beauty, the LUMS Math Circles was created by the Department of Mathematics at SBASSE, as a way to extend the love for mathematics out to the public.

Around 32 school kids attended the first LUMS Math Circles event. The Dean of the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering, Dr. Muhammad Sabieh Anwar inaugurated the initiative. He addressed the audience emphasizing the role of mathematics in understanding sciences, art and music; the study of hidden patterns is the core of mathematical learning. His message for the participants, "learning mathematics is always rewarding as it brings pleasing satisfaction." 

First Circle was instructed by Dr. Imran Anwar and Dr. Shaheen Nazir. “We started with some mathematical tricks involving numbers. The theme of the first circle was building number system by using compass and ruler, the way Greeks used to do. It was a time-travelling experience for participants to learn building numbers through compass and ruler”, said Dr. Imran Anwar, Chair of the Department of Mathematics. 

A product of about a kilogram of our grey matter, mathematics has solidified its effectiveness in understanding the world around us as well as imagining possibilities that we may never actually be able to see or touch. This tantalizing and hefty realisation was summed up beautifully by Eugene Wigner, in the title of his book “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences”. How many subjects or fields out there can bridge the unlimited and untamed creativity of an artist with the rigor of a mathematical doyen? Math creates this bridge with ease!

The whole lecture was composed on interesting math stories from the past and interactive geometric constructions. In the end, certificates (and donuts!) were distributed among all the participants. 

For more information regarding LUMS Math Circles, please visit this link: LUMS Math Circles (google.com)