engleski

The maxmin principle in popularisation of mathematics: maximum effect with minimum costs

Sometimes limited means boost the development of new ideas or of finding new ways of presenting old ones. The example of popularisation of (not only) mathematics in Croatia is a corroboration of the previous statement. Although in Croatia there is a long tradition of mathematical journals with occasional or regular popular articles, several mathematical books for a general audience have been published in the previous decades and mathematical school-programmes broadcasted on television, the real change from communication of mathematics to popularisation of mathematics happened in the last 10 or 15 years. In these years the author and several other enthusiasts started to develop a mainly interactive and live-communication oriented approach to popularisation of mathematics. As science in general receives quite limited financial support in Croatia, the financial means for organisation and presentation of mathematical and other popular science workshops were and are very scarce. Because of this and some other reasons, most activities depend on the enthusiasm and original ideas of individuals doing popularisation, and particularly on finding of presentation ideas that require cheap materials. The talk will present an overview of the math popularisation activities in Croatia in the period from 1997 until today, with the emphasis on showing the importance of person-to-person communication in popularisation and on the stimulus on creativity received from the fact of having limited financial resources.

raising public awareness of mathematics; interactive mathematics; mathematics for general audience

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