‘Mathemagics’ Takes Center Stage at Convergence Lecture

An energetic crowd filed into the Sidney Gelber Auditorium on December 13 to hear math professor and professional magician Arthur Benjamin tell all.

Known for his performances at Disney's Magic Castle, frequent TV appearances, award-winning books and more, Benjamin pulled back the curtain on the math that makes his most famous tricks possible.

"Secrets of Mental Math" was the final event in the Convergence lecture series, presented by Stony Brook University's Institute for Creative Problem Solving in collaboration with the National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

One by one, audience members shouted out their dates of birth, and Benjamin immediately relayed which days of the week they were born on. He then revealed how he came to each conclusion by solving a "magic square," or organizing the numbers in the top row of a grid and using simple algebra to find the missing variable.

Benjamin is the Smallwood Family Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College as well as a professional magician who has captivated generations of people with his quick thinking, lively persona and engaging presentation known as "Mathemagics." His TED Talks have garnered more than 50 million views and he is a New York Times bestselling author.

The Convergence lecture series welcomes curious minds of all kinds to explore the wide world of mathematical thinking.