The Maths of Life and Death: Understanding the maths behind epidemics

UPDATE:

Unfortunately, due to train strikes this weekend, the speaker Kit Yates is unable to attend Edinburgh in person. The event will still go ahead with Kit presenting remotely, therefore the in-person event at the Bayes Centre will now be a watch-party style event. The talk will be screened in the Bayes Centre with an audience camera that will only be turned on for the Q&A portion of the event.

In-person tickets for this event are now booked up. Online tickets still available until 12 noon on Fri 30 Sept.

**********

In this lecture hosted by the Edinburgh Mathematical Society, Dr. Kit Yates will look at some of the basic models and mathematics underlying the understanding of disease spread, and pick apart the meanings behind some of the terms we hear about in the news: from exponential growth and R to critical immunisation threshold and herd immunity. Very little prior knowledge will be needed in order to enjoy the talk.

The content of the talk is suitable for all ages, though those aged 12+ are likely to benefit most from attending this lecture.

To attend in person or online, please register using the link below by 12pm on the day of the lecture:

About the speaker:

Dr. Kit Yates is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Sciences and co-director of the Centre for Mathematical Biology at the University of Bath. Alongside his academic position, Kit is also an author and science communicator. His first book, The Maths of Life and Death, is about the places where maths can have an impact on our everyday lives without us even realising it.

His research demonstrates that mathematics can be used to describe all sorts of real-world phenomena: from embryo formation to locust swarming and from sleeping sickness to egg-shell patterning. He is particularly interested in the role that randomness plays in Biology. His research into Mathematical Biology has been covered by the BBC, the Guardian, the Telegraph, RTE, Scientific American and Reuters amongst others.