I have noticed posted in the York University math department near the main office (and more recently elsewhere) a number of very good single page poster/summaries of examples of where mathematics has managed to solve some very practical problems. I took a look online and these posters are freely available from the American Mathematical Society.
I am writing this blog entry about them to suggest that you take a look and consider hanging them as math eye candy to in your classrooms and departments. The summaries are written for a general audience and are very good explanations of how mathematics is used in solving practical and interesting problems. Sometimes the posters are accompanied by additional teaching material such as podcasts and papers.
One example given was about a mathematician who won a Grammy for recovering recordings of Woody Guthrey using signal processing techniques. Another was about how it is possible to detect if a digital photo has been altered. Other examples in the area of digital technology include data compression, speech recognition, GPS, and digital movie animation. There are other examples from science, sports, art and langugage.
If you are looking for something to spark students interest in mathematics or even idea for classroom material this is a great resource. I recommend that you find a color printer if you do since they are not nearly as flashy in black and white. If you want to explore these topics further the online resources also seem very good.
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Thanx for posting these resources, Mike! It may seem like very few people are reading the blog, but please keep them coming, they are appreciated.
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