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Author, mathematician to present lecture, book signing

By Linnae Stole '10
October 9, 2008

Author and mathematician Manil Suri will visit St. Olaf Oct. 21 to present a talk titled "The Mathematics of Fiction," and, later that evening, to read from and discuss his new book The Age of Shiva.

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Suri
The talk begins at 4 p.m. in Regents Hall 150, and the reading and discussion will start at 7:30 p.m. in Viking Theater. A book signing will follow the discussion; copies of The Age of Shiva will be for sale at the St. Olaf Bookstore prior to the event as well as at the signing. Both the lecture and discussion are free and open to the public.

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Suri, originally of Bombay (now Mumbai), India, is a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The Age of Shiva is his third work published in English. A short story titled "The Seventh Circle" appeared in The New Yorker in 2000, and his first novel, The Death of Vishnu, was published in 2001. It has since been translated into two dozen languages worldwide.

In his upcoming lecture at St. Olaf, Suri will talk about the experience of being both a novelist and a mathematician, and the synergy generated between the two endeavors for him. The presentation will show how fundamental ideas from mathematics can be used to compose a symphony, create an image, make Marilyn Monroe smile and, surprisingly, create a fictional piece.

Suri's visit is tied to the 2008-09 academic theme, Science and the Liberal Arts. The theme was established to reflect on relationships between the sciences and other disciplines as the college celebrates the opening of Regents Hall of Natural and Mathematical Sciences this fall.

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.