Burkard Polster

Burkard Polster (born 26 February 1965 in Würzburg) is a German^[2] mathematician who runs and presents the Mathologer channel on YouTube.^[3] He is a professor of mathematics at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.^[4]

Burkard Polster - Mathologer
Personal information
Occupation	Mathematician
Website	www.qedcat.com
YouTube information
Channel	Mathologer
Years active	2015–present
Genre	Education
Subscribers	934 thousand[1]
Total views	71.4 million[1]
Creator Awards 100,000 subscribers
Last updated: 10 May 2023

Education and career

Polster earned a doctorate from the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg in 1993 under the supervision of Karl Strambach.^[5] Other universities that Polster has been affiliated with, before joining Monash University in 2000, include the University of Würzburg, University at Albany, University of Kiel, University of California, Berkeley, University of Canterbury, and University of Adelaide.^[6]

Polster's research involves topics in geometry, recreational mathematics, and the mathematics of everyday life, including how to tie shoelaces^[7] or stabilize a wobbly table.^[8]

Books

Polster is the author of multiple books including:

• A Geometrical Picture Book. Springer. 1998. ISBN 0-387-98437-2.^[9]
• Geometries on Surfaces. with Günter Steinke. Cambridge University Press. 2001. ISBN 0-521-66058-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[10]
• The Mathematics of Juggling. Springer. 2003. ISBN 0-387-95513-5.^[11]
• Q.E.D.: Beauty in Mathematical Proof. Wooden Books. 2004. ISBN 190426350X.^[12] Included in the four-book compilation Scientia: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Astronomy for All (2011) and translated into German as Sciencia: Mathematik, Physik, Chemie, Biologie und Astronomie für alle verständlich (Librero, 2014, in German).
• Les Ambigrammes: l'art de symétriser les mots (in French). Editions Ecritextes. 2004. ISBN 2915633002.
• The Shoelace Book: A Mathematical Guide to the Best (and Worst) Ways to Lace Your Shoes. American Mathematical Society. 2006. ISBN 0821839330.^[13]
• Eye Twisters: Ambigrams & Other Visual Puzzles to Amaze and Entertain. Constable. 2007. ISBN 9781402757983.
• Math Goes to the Movies. with Marty Ross. Johns Hopkins University Press. 2012. ISBN 9781421404837.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[14]
• A Dingo Ate My Math Book: Mathematics from Down Under. with Marty Ross. American Mathematical Society. 2017. ISBN 9781470435219.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
• Putting Two and Two Together. with Marty Ross. American Mathematical Society. 2022. ISBN 978-1-4704-6011-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

References

1. "About Mathologer". YouTube.
2. "Burkard Polster, Mathemagician". YouTube. Monash University Faculty of Science. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
3. "Mathologer", News, Events, and Announcements, American Mathematical Society, 4 May 2015
4. "Burkard Polster", Faculty profiles, Monash University, retrieved 23 January 2018
5. Burkard Polster at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
6. 60 seconds with ... Burkard Polster, Monash University, 17 October 2007, retrieved 23 January 2018
7. Chang, Kenneth (10 December 2002), "Seeking Perfection in Shoe Lacing, With 43,200 Choices", The New York Times
8. Devlin, Keith (February 2007), "How to stabilize a wobbly table", Devlin's Angle, Mathematical Association of America
9. Review of A Geometrical Picture Book:

   • Jha, Vikram (1999), "Review: A Geometrical Picture Book", Mathematical Reviews, MR 1640615
10. Review of Geometries on Surfaces:

    • Havlicek, Hans (2003), "Review: Geometries on Surfaces", Mathematical Reviews, MR 1889925
11. Reviews of The Mathematics of Juggling:

    • Burger, Kevin R. (December 2003), "Review: The Mathematics of Juggling", MAA Reviews
    • Sun, Hugo S. (2004), "Review: The Mathematics of Juggling", Mathematical Reviews, MR 1940029
    • Knutson, Allen (January 2004), "Book Review: The Mathematics of Juggling" (PDF), Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 51 (1): 35–38
    • Matthew Macauley (February 2004), "Review: Juggling by the Numbers", Math Horizons, 11 (3): 23, doi:10.1080/10724117.2004.12021756, JSTOR 25678460, S2CID 125318610
12. Review of Q.E.D.: Beauty in Mathematical Proof:

    • Craine, Timothy V. (April 2005), "Review: Q.E.D.: Beauty in Mathematical Proof", The Mathematics Teacher, 98 (8): 576, JSTOR 27971813
13. Reviews of The Shoelace Book:

    • Adams, Colin (December 2007), "Book Review: The Shoelace Book" (PDF), Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 53 (11): 1324–1326
    • Tabachnikov, Serge L. (2007), "Review: The Shoelace Book", Mathematical Reviews, MR 2225624
    • Sonnabend, Thomas (March 2007), "Review: The Shoelace Book", The Mathematics Teacher, 100 (7): 512, JSTOR 27972314
    • Halton, John (2008), "Review: The Shoelace Book", The Mathematical Intelligencer, 30 (3): 70–72, doi:10.1007/BF02985384, S2CID 189884196
14. Reviews of Math Goes to the Movies:

    • Jones, Lenny, "Review: Math Goes to the Movies", Mathematical Reviews, MR 2953095
    • Wilders, Richard J. (September 2012), "Review: Math Goes to the Movies", MAA Reviews
    • Leversha, Gerry (November 2013), "Review: Math Goes to the Movies", The Mathematical Gazette, 97 (540): 562–563, doi:10.1017/S0025557200000498, S2CID 233359366
    • Gray, Mary (2016), "Review: Math Goes to the Movies", The Mathematical Intelligencer, 38 (1): 90–92, doi:10.1007/s00283-015-9574-5, S2CID 123725862

External links

• Mathologer, Polster's YouTube site
• Maths Masters, Burkard Polster and Marty Ross
• Burkard Polster publications indexed by Google Scholar