Scott D. Kominers

Talks and Presentations

Harvard Math Table

(full schedule)
    "C=15", October 30, 2007 (awarded the top Robert Fletcher Rogers Prize): a discussion of recent results in quadratic form representation theory, focusing on the Conway-Schneeberger "Fifteen Theorem," the Bhargava-Hanke "290 Theorem," and Kim, Kim, and Oh's criterion results for representations of higher-rank forms.
    "Opetopia", November 21, 2006: An introduction to the theory and applications of $n$-categories, focusing especially on the "opetopic" realization of $n$-category theory.
    "Metric-Preserving Functions", February 21, 2006: An introduction to the theory of metric-preserving functions, those functions $f:[0,\infty)\to[0,\infty)$ such that for any metric space $X$ with metric $d$, $f\circ d$ is a metric on $X$.

on The Harvard College Mathematics Review

on my Research

  • "Configurations of Extremal Even Unimodular Lattices"
  • "Leonard Bernstein's Doodles: Grasping Genius Through Graphology"
  • "Word-painting in Gregorian Chant: A Computer-assisted Study"
    • Harvard Music 191r: Sources of Gregorian Chant, Chant Symposium, December 12, 2007.

  • "On Universality Properties of Positive-Definite Integral Quadratic Forms"
    • Harvard Math 99r: Tutorial on Binary Quadratic Forms, January 6, 2006.
    • Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, May 12, 2005.
    • University of Maryland Junior Sciences and Humanities Symposium, March 2005.
    • Research Science Institute, July 29, 2004.


Media Appearances

  • "Waiting for the Bus," Improbable Research Review, Annals of Improbable Research 14(3), (2008), pg. 4. (The "Walk versus Wait" article I co-authored with Justin Chen and Robert Sinnott made it into the AIR!)
  • Erik D. Demaine and Joseph O'Rourke, "Open Problems from CCCG 2007," Proceedings of the 20th Canadian Conference on Computational Geometry (CCCG 2008), (2008). (Contains an announcement of my work with Zachary Abel on the "pushing cubes around" problem.)
  • Joseph O'Rourke, "Computational Geometry Column 50," ACM SIGACT News 39(1), March, 2008. (A professional newsletter article announcing Zachary Abel's hinge dissection results, citing the "Hinged Dissections Exist" paper which I co-authored with Zachary Abel et al.)
  • Igor Waltz, "Escolha preguicosa e a melhor," Ciencia Hoje On-line, February 26, 2008. (Another article on the "Walk versus Wait" article I co-authored with Justin Chen and Robert Sinnott; this time, in Portuguese!)
  • Kimberly Wexler, "Harvard solves urban mystery: Wait for the bus," The Boston University Daily Free Press, February 8, 2008. (Another article on the "Walk versus Wait" article I co-authored with Justin Chen and Robert Sinnott; this time, authored by an undergraduate!)
  • Noah Bierman, "Starts and Stops: Wait/walk conundrum," The Boston Globe, February 3, 2008. (Another article on the "Walk versus Wait" article I co-authored with Justin Chen and Robert Sinnott, with a picture!)
  • Annette Emerson, "Lazy option is best when waiting for the bus," AMS Math in the Media, 2008. (The "Walk versus Wait" article generated so much media coverage that it made the "Math in the Media" column on the American Mathematical Society's website.)
  • "Lazy option is best when waiting for the bus," New Scientist 2640, (2008), pg. 18. (An article on the "Walk versus Wait" article I co-authored with Justin Chen and Robert Sinnott.)
  • "Should I Stay, Should I Go?," Null Hypothesis, February 3, 2008. (Another article on the "Walk versus Wait" article I co-authored with Justin Chen and Robert Sinnott.)
  • "Mathematically speaking: wait don't walk," iTWire, February 1, 2008. (Another article on the "Walk versus Wait" article I co-authored with Justin Chen and Robert Sinnott.)
  • Stephen J. Dubner, "Further Adventures in Bus Stop Strategy," Freakonomics [Blog], January 29, 2008. (A Freakonomics blog post on the "Walk versus Wait" article I co-authored with Justin Chen and Robert Sinnott. This posting generated lots of amusing comments....)
  • "Keep Waiting for the Bus or Walk? Math Has the Answer," The Wall Street Journal: The Informed Reader, January 24, 2008. (A WSJ blog post on the "Walk versus Wait" article I co-authored with Justin Chen and Robert Sinnott; this article was brought to my attention by my friend Ray Fisman.)
  • "Take the lazy way: Mathematically, it's better to wait for the bus than walk. See?," Canada's Globeandmail.com, January 24, 2008. (Another article on the "Walk versus Wait" article I co-authored with Justin Chen and Robert Sinnott.)
  • "Waiting game wins at the bus stop," London's The Times, January 24, 2008. (Another article on the "Walk versus Wait" article I co-authored with Justin Chen and Robert Sinnott.)
  • "Mathematics of waiting for the bus," BoingBoing: A Directory of Wonderful Things, January 23, 2008. (Another article on the "Walk versus Wait" article I co-authored with Justin Chen and Robert Sinnott.)
  • "How To Wait For A Bus," Anorak, January 23, 2008. (A satire article on the "Walk versus Wait" article I co-authored with Justin Chen and Robert Sinnott.)
  • "Laziness pays off: it's official," Independent Online (IOL): News for South Africa, January 23, 2008. (Another article on the "Walk versus Wait" article I co-authored with Justin Chen and Robert Sinnott; this article also appeared in The South African Star, South Africa's Cape Argus, South Africa's Sunday Independent, South Africa's The Mercury, South Africa's Cape Times, South Africa's Independent on Saturday, India's Daily News & Analysis, The United Arab Emirates' Khaleej Times, Pretoria News, PhysOrg.com, and Pakistan's The News -- International.)
  • "Lazy mathematician wins," The Sun, January 23, 2008. (Another article on the "Walk versus Wait" article I co-authored with Justin Chen and Robert Sinnott.)
  • My appearance in Amerikas andere Seite - Was Kalifornien besser macht. (A German television documentary involving Google.)
  • "Wilson captures first in math competition," The Terre Haute Tribune Star, November 10, 2007. (An article on the 2007 Rose-Hulman Fresman Mathematics Competition which John Rickert, Paul Kominers, and I wrote.)
  • "Conference Report: Bernstein in Boston," The Bulletin of the Society for American Music, Winter, 2007. (A review mentioning my presentation at the Leonard Bernstein's Boston symposium.)
  • "Burden of Proof," The Harvard Crimson, December 6, 2006. (An article on Math 55.)
  • "Shulman says Harvard's new effort to promote teaching can revolutionalize universities," The Boston Globe, September 5, 2006. (An article on the Leonard Bernstein's Boston (Music 194rs) seminar.)
  • "Karl Menger Memorial Awards," AMS Member Newsletter, Winter, 2006. (I won the AMS's Karl Menger Prize at the 2005 International Science and Engineering Fair.)
  • "2005 AMS Menger Awards," in "Mathematics People," Notices of the American Mathematical Society, September, 2005. (I won the AMS's Karl Menger Prize at the 2005 International Science and Engineering Fair.)