Short Wave - A Classroom Where Math And Community Intersect

Episode Date: April 19, 2021

When you think of mathematicians, do you think of lone geniuses scribbling away at complex equations? This myth is one mathematician Ranthony Edmonds actively tries to dispel in her classroom as a post-doc at The Ohio State University. Instead, Ranthony focuses on the community aspects of math — the support systems behind each mathematician and the benefits of a collaborative, inclusive environment for math innovation. Think we should consider math more? Let us know by emailing [e-mail] pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Hey, everybody. Producer Rebecca Ramirez here with the woman, the myth, the legend, your host, Maddie Safaya. Okay. Hey, Rebecca. Maddie, you are in for such a treat today because I want to introduce you to Ranthony Edmins. Ramthony is a postdoc at Ohio State University.

My primary research area is in a branch of mathematics called commative ring theory, and there I specialize in what's called factorization theory. I'm sorry, did she say math? Rebecca, did you trick me into hosting a math episode? I mean, yes, but here's the thing. I really think you're going to relate to Ranthony's story a lot because she didn't always think of herself as a math person. Anthony's math journey has actually taken quite a few turns. It begins with an early interest in math. But then when she went to high school, she got into a magnet program.

And I was dismissed after the first year for getting C's in my math classes. Seas are passing. Yeah, not in MSPC. Not if you want to stay a magnet. It was unacceptable. When it came time for college, Ranthony decided to major in biology, a pre-med track, because she thought, I'm not good at math, so I guess I'll be a doctor. Well, Rebecca, I'll tell you what, she's in trouble because in my experience, math is required for biology tracks.

Classic mistake. So she did end up having to take a math class, and it was transformative. She loved it so much. She organized study groups, and then later tutored other students. You know, these study groups that I was tutoring were the highlight of my week. So she actually changed her major and ended up doubling in math and English. did an extra year to finish it all, and, like, devoted herself to math. Took courses year-round.

But when she applied to grad school, it wasn't it great the first time around? She didn't get in. Bummer. I know. But she still didn't give up. She took extra math classes at a local college to improve her resume. And it's actually in this limbo period after undergrad when it eventually clicked for Anthony. She went to conferences and finally met other.

black mathematicians, studied with her peers, and she entered a new phase in her relationship with math. I would say that for me, I think that math always loved me back. I think it's more so that it took a while for me to be exposed to communities where I was comfortable making mistakes, where I was comfortable kind of bringing my authentic self into whatever space I was inhabiting, and where things were kind of constructive and productive, rather than kind of a negative, oh, you didn't know how to do this,

why are you here sort of vibe. And that sense of community and belonging where it's okay to just be exploring math is something that Ranthony actively fosters in her teaching today. Wow, Rebecca, I actually love this so much. I knew you would. I wanted to give you a little taste of that.

So today we are entering Ranthani's classroom, including a mini math lesson. Don't be mad. Okay, well, I'm nervous about that part, but also very excited for this episode of Shortwave from NPR. Okay, Dutriino, you promised me a math lesson and you seem very sure of yourself, but as you know, I am not a math person, which I want to change, but I'm intimidated. So, you know, we'll see how this goes. What are we learning today? I want to teach you with Anthony's help a little bit about one of her areas of research, community.

mutative rings, and within that, factorization. Oh, boy. Okay. So a little background, there are basically two big branches of math. There's pure math and applied math. When we think about pure mathematics, we think about math that's studied for its own sake without relation to some sort of maybe practical use, whereas we think about maybe applied math is something that is studied to try to solve some real-world problem. Ranthini studies both.

factorization and commutative rings happen to be pure math. So let's just get started with factorization. You probably remember that from grade school, right? Yeah, yeah, I can do this. That's like finding all the numbers that divide evenly into another number, right? Like for six, the factors are one, two, three, and six. Yeah, exactly. And what Ranthini does is combine that idea of breaking down something into just its smallest parts with commutative ring theory,

which is really just fancy jargon. First, what is a ring? It's just a set of things that satisfy certain properties. And so a really good example of a ring is the set of integers. Ooh, I know integers too. Okay, those are positive and negative whole numbers, question mark? Exactly. So like one, two, three, and six, which you just said.

And some of their defining properties are that you can do things, like multiply two and three, two positive numbers together to get that six. But sets can also be defined by things you can't do. Like, you're never going to multiply and add these numbers together and get a fraction, you know? So what's the commutative part of commutative ring theory? Yeah, good question. So, like, Anthony told me when we say commutative. What we mean is that the order in which we do operations doesn't matter.

And so if you think about, like, in real life, let's say an operation is doing the laundry. If I, you know, put my clothes in the washer and then the dryer that's going to have a much different effect than if I put my clothes in the dryer and then put them in the washer. But with integers, it doesn't matter if you multiply two times three or three times two. It's always six. Okay, okay. So putting that all together, Anthony spends her time looking at rings, which are basically sets of things like integers that follow certain rules. rules. Right. And those rules are all commutative, meaning... The order that you do them doesn't matter. Hell! It's like we got a math pro in the house. Smug, smug, smug, go on.

So anyway, this is basically what Ranthony does, just, you know, with more complex sets than integers. Okay, so are there like real-world applications for any of this? There are, there are. So remember factorization from earlier? It turns out. out, factorization is actually key to encryption. Apparently, it's really hard to factor super big numbers into prime numbers. So it's the basis of a lot of security on the interwebs. Very cool. Okay, give me another example. Well, commutative ring theory has a role in making sure you're typing your credit card number incorrectly and all sorts of other things, too, like ISPN numbers for books and the little stickers on fruit. So sometimes,

That's why if you have a little bit of a wrinkled sticker on like a piece of fruit at the grocery market and you're doing self-scaned, it doesn't work. So next time you scan a book or food or type in your credit card number, you can now think of the factorization and commutative ring theory, which are powering all of those things. Okay, Maddie, now that we've had this math lesson, do you feel like you are more of a math person or just the same? I mean, I am absolutely very math appreciative. I am math excited, even a little curious, but I don't know if I'm like good at it, you know. Okay. I hear you. But Ranthani says you don't have to be good at math to be a math person. That's a lie, Sophia. I really resonate with those who kind of, you know, say I don't see myself as a math person because for a really long time, I kind of had that exact same mindset. It's just that I liked it enough to kind of keep. keep pushing past that, hoping that eventually maybe I would become a math person, whatever that means.

I mean, for Ranthi, it took a long time to finally think of herself as a mathematician again. Remember her early experiences in math? They were an uphill battle. And it wasn't until she graduated college that she really found those right support systems. It kind of felt like this relentless knocking on doors. And eventually, many of them opened and at the same time, you know, I, I appreciated that, but now that I'm on the other side of things as an instructor, I just feel like it shouldn't have to take all of that, you know?

Which is why she teaches a class now called Intersections of Math and Society Hidden Figures. It's open to all majors and focused on community, both in terms of creating them and also finding the ones that already exist around us, but we're just not aware of. Very cool. Very cool. Okay, let's get into it. I mean, does this class involve studying the Hidden Figures themselves. I'm talking about the black women mathematicians at NASA who helped launch us into space. It does. She and her co-instructor center these women's journeys and give them real context. We wanted to dispel this myth of like a math genius. And we wanted to kind of dispel this myth that there's no community aspect to these journeys. And so in particular,

all the women in the Hidden Figure story are coming from sort of socially elite backgrounds for Black Americans at the time. And so this provided them access and support from their churches. They were kind of all involved in the same sorority. But at the same time, they were one, black, and two, women. So this type of job wasn't necessarily just falling into these women's laps. And they really get into all these nuances. We often see the end result, right? But we don't often see the journey. And I think this course allows us to see the journey of these hidden figures in particular. but it also gives students an ability to reflect on their own journeys. The first half of the semester, students interview people they call local hidden figures.

These are people in the wider Columbus community who are using math, but they're not necessarily strictly mathematicians capital M, you know? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's impressive. Okay, and what's the second half of the course like? The second half brings it full circle. Students are grouped up and then tasked with creating a STEM project, that they then implement for the local community. So they actually become little hidden figures themselves.

Wow, that's beautiful. All these different math communities. What we really want to do is open up the idea that mathematics is a tool and you can use it in a wide variety of spaces or you can use it and just study it for its own right. There's no right or wrong way. To Ranthony, success as a mathematician isn't how many papers someone publishes

or winning prestigious math awards. Success is just making people like you and me feel a little more included and a little more comfortable with math. If a student says, I thought math was this and now I think it's that. And the that is something that can be explored for its own right, something that can be used as a tool in a particular setting, then I feel like that's me doing my job. I do love academic research, and it's what kind of grounds me, if that makes sense, but it doesn't drive me. What drives me is trying to create access for others to be able to experience mathematics.

Math is about community and problem solving and asking questions together. It's the small little bits of magic, like how we're able to scan things at the checkout counter, and just thinking creatively about the world, you know, asking why and how. Wow, wow, wow, Rebecca Ramirez, I cannot believe it, but you are making me emotional about math. Wonderful job, wonderful job, my friend. That's the magic of math, baby. All right, Rebecca Ramirez. We appreciate you.

Thank you for this episode. Of course. This episode was reported and produced by mathematician Rebecca Ramirez, edited by Viet Le, and fact-checked by Rosh Rady. The audio engineer for this episode was Josh Newell. I'm Maddie Safia. Thanks for listening to Shortwave from NPR. Are you a mathematician?

Nah, but I'm- Why didn't you call yourself a mathematician? I'm heating up. I'm heating up, though.