The LMS Computer Science Committee hosted an informal discussion meeting of mathematicians and theoretical computer scientists on 18 March to explore possible interactions between e-Science and mathematics and theoretical computer science: this was attended by around 20 leading industrial and academic researchers, and several representatives of EPSRC, including Tony Hey, Head of the e-Science programme and Vince Osgood, ICT Programme Manager. Talks were given by Tony Hey (EPSRC), Vince Osgood (EPSRC), Mike Dewar (NAG Ltd), Philippa Gardner (ICSTM), Ian Roulstone (Met Office) and Iain Stewart (University of Durham). There was lively and enthusiastic discussion, and a report was produced, available from the LMS website (www.lms.ac.uk). This identifies e-Science research opportunities in: mathematical modelling, scientific computation, numerical mathematics, analysis, linear algebra, inverse methods, control theory, variational methods, symbolic computation, computational logic, discrete mathematics, graph theory, operations research, economic mathematics, stochastic analysis, algorithms and applied semantics.

Further details of the UK e-Science programme can be found on the web (www.research-councils.ac.uk/escience and www.nesc.ac.uk).

Ursula Martin Queen Mary University of London

In Milan last month it was not tickets for the Champions League game at the San Siro or Domingo at La Scala that were commanding exorbitant prices on the black market. Instead, an esoteric play about mathematics was the talk of the town. Tickets for the Piccolo Teatro’s production of “Infinities” sold out within hours of going on sale as long ago as last February. The play was first premiered in the spring of 2002 when its three week run received over 70 rave reviews culminating in the award in December 2002 of Italy’s version of the Olivier award for best play.

“Infinities” is the result of a collaboration between cosmologist John Barrow in Cambridge and the Italian theatre director Luca Ronconi. Barrow is director of the hugely successful Millennium Mathematics Project, a web-based initiative to bring the excitement of mathematics into schools. He is also author of many popular mathematics books including his book about zero “The Book of Nothing”. But when asked to write something for the theatre by Pino Donghi, the director of the popular science event at the Spoleto Festival, it was to the other end of the mathematical spectrum that Barrow went for inspiration.

“I proposed this idea of infinity because I thought it was an abstract idea yet it was an idea that the average person on the street did not regard as alien or unintelligible. Everybody had some notion, whether it was religious or not what this was about, whilst if we had chosen complex numbers or something we would not get very far.”

There have been many plays over the last few years that have taken science as their inspiration: Tom Stoppard’s “Arcadia” plays with ideas of chaos theory, Michael Frayn’s “Copenhagen” explores quantum physics as a metaphor for interpreting history, a great unsolved problem about prime numbers is at the heart of David Auburn’s play “Proof”. But Italian director Ronconi believes that these plays are not really about science but the characters behind the science. “They were fine. They just happened to be about scientists. Human dramas,” Barrow explains. “Ronconi was very keen to create a play about scientific ideas. He wanted something that wasn't like traditional drama, not about personalities.”

The idea of infinity that Barrow suggested following the Spoleto festival in 2001 was the perfect foil for Ronconi’s fertile theatrical imagination. The piece evolved during several meetings over the next year and a half. “It was like being involved in a collaborative research project where you don’t quite know what is going to come out at the end of it.” When Barrow explained the ideas behind Hilbert’s infinite hotel, where guests can be accommodated even if the hotel is full, Ronconi’s eyes lit up. He knew the perfect space to create Hilbert’s hotel. The splendid sets for the lavish operas performed in La Scala are prepared in a large warehouse. Rather than erecting scaffolding for the painters to climb, the warehouse has a huge wall with hundreds of doors through which the painters can emerge to paint the backdrops hung against the wall. But remove the backdrop and what you have is Hilbert’s hotel - hundreds and hundreds of doors lining the wall stretching into the rafters of the warehouse. The stage was set for the first of their scenes exploring the infinite.

After experiencing the delights of Hilbert’s hotel, the audience moves around the unusual space provided by the warehouse to four further scenarios created by Ronconi and Barrow. The second scene is more sociological, exploring the impact on society of immortality. How society would split into two groups: one manically active, the other for whom there would always be a mañana. The set again is unusual as actors were moved around on a monorail running above the audience on girders that had once been used as hoists for moving around heavy props. The third scenario explores the idea of the infinite replication paradox – that if there is a non-zero chance of something happening in an infinite universe then it must have happened infinitely often. The set took its inspiration from Borges’ story “The Garden of Forking Paths”. The audience gathers around the perimeter of a criss-cross of walkways, a labyrinth of possibilities. The walls of the walkways were cupboards from which actors would emerge and disappear.

Cantor is the subject of the fourth scene whilst the final scene discusses the joys of time travel. Again the set is an integral part of the drama. Bright squares on the walls give the illusion of windows looking out onto the outside world. But then through these bright squares of lights, actors would emerge as if stepping out of another time. The scene explores why, if time travel is permissible, the great events of history haven’t be crowded out by tourists from the future.

Barrow believes Italy is much more open to this crossover between art and science. “I think it is something to do with Leonardo in the sense that there is no division between art and science in the way there is here. Popular science is actually reported in the cultural pages of the newspaper.” The play was so successful during its first run that hundreds of people were arriving without tickets, unable to get in. “They eventually took sympathy and told them to come back at 11 and they’d do another performance. The poor actors ended up doing three more performances. Things ended at 1am.”

It is a truly European style of theatre – almost installation art rather than the drawing-room dramas that are served up in London’s West End. In fact Ronconi was rather concerned that Barrow would not like what they’d done. “He was worried I was expecting it to be some amusing English style thing.”

So, is there any chance we can get to see the play in London? Unfortunately, with a market dominated by performances for American tourists, it seems unlikely. But according to Barrow, the Middle East might be your best bet for catching the next performance of this mathematical extravaganza. “The Egyptian government want to have a performance in Arabic in the library of Alexandria. The interest is probably not surprising given the Islamic mathematical tradition. They feel there is a strong resonance there with their history. They liked the labyrinth garden of forking paths idea. They felt the great hall of the library has that labyrinthine type texture which the audience could sit in.”

Judging by the reaction of the Milanese audiences, it might be worth booking now. Despite their successful recreation of Hilbert’s hotel, Barrow and Ronconi could not perform the same trick of accommodating the many disappointed punters who were unable to find room at the Piccolo Teatro last month.

Useful Links:
http://mmp.maths.org/
www.piccoloteatro.org/infinities/

Professor Marcus du Sautoy Mathematical Institute, Oxford

The Royal Society of Chemistry recently organised an event, ‘The Voice of the Future’, at which nearly 150 young scientists from a variety of disciplines had an opportunity to meet the eleven members of the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee. The meeting commenced with a welcome from the chairman, Dr Ian Gibson MP, who briefly explained the role of the committee and then invited questions from the audience. The ensuing lively question-and-answer session addressed a wide range of topics, from university top-up fees and working conditions for academics on temporary contracts, to issues relating to patent law. The members of the committee were genuinely interested in the issues raised by the audience and appeared keen to strengthen the links between the scientific community and Parliament.

The question time was followed by an address from Lord Sainsbury, the Minister of Science, after which there was an opportunity to attend a formal meeting of the committee at which government ministers and scientific advisors gave oral evidence in the committee's inquiry ‘Towards non-carbon fuel economy’.

The day provided valuable insight into the committee's work and identified opportunities for providing input into current science and technology policy. The committee always welcomes suggestions for issues that would warrant further investigation. The committee can be contacted by email (scitechcom@parliament.uk); further contact details are provided on its webpage (www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/s&thome.htm) which also provides a summary of the committee's current programme of work.

Matthias Heil Manchester University