Some updates on Publications may be found on
my C.V.
Here is a trailer from a recent film by my brother,
Matej Mináč
and Patrik Pašš entitled: "Nicky's Family"
related to the extraordinary and inspiring story of Sir Nicholas Winton and the rescue of 669 children just before WWII.
I am very grateful to Abeer Moussa and
Mehdi Garrousian, who very kindly recorded my mathematical theatrical skit
(performed with my wife, Leslie Hallock) on kind invitation from the Faculty of Education at Western University.
Special thanks are due also to
Professor Immaculate Namukasa of the Faculty of Education.
SELECTED MATHEMATICAL THEATRICAL LECTURES AT CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS AND MEETINGS 1991-2010
"Pro-p Absolute Galois Groups and Cinderella and her Wicked Stepsisters".
Torsors, Lie Algebras and Galois Cohomology Workshop,
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Ottawa, March 26, 2010 (performed jointly with Leslie Hallock).
"A Toast to John Labute and Galois Modules". Invited address, Conference in Honour
of John Labute, McGill University and the Centre de recherches mathématiques (CRM), Montréal, Québec, November 15, 2007
(performed jointly with Leslie Hallock).
"Who is Murdering Candidates Seeking Promotion in Galois Cohomology?". Invited plenary lecture,
PIMS Algebra Summer School 2007, Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences and the University of Alberta, Edmonton,
August 7, 2007.
"Charming Cohomological Killer Still on the Loose!". Invited lecture, Pizza Seminar,
Department of Mathematics, The University of Western Ontario, March 30, 2004 (performed jointly with Ganesh Bhandari, Ortho Flint and Leslie Hallock).
"A U-invariant on the Roof".
American Mathematical Society Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, January 1993. (Based on mathematical joint work with Adrian Wadsworth and performed jointly with
Leslie Hallock.)
"Hamlet and Pfister Forms". Lecture, Oberwolfach Mathematical Institute, Germany, 1992
(performed jointly with Leslie Hallock).
"The Mysterious Stranger in the Midst of Eccentrics Inhabiting the World
of Invariants of Quadratic Forms". Colloquium, Department of Mathematics, The University of Western Ontario, December 5, 1991
(performed jointly with Leslie Hallock).
"Demushkin Groups and Galois Groups". Third Conference of the Canadian Number Theory Association,
Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, August, 1991 (performed jointly with Leslie Hallock).
SELECTED MATHEMATICAL THEATRICAL ACTIVITY IN THE CLASSROOM
"How Mathematics Could Save Romeo and Juliet!". Elementary Number Theory class,
The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, 1997 (performed jointly with Leslie Hallock).
"Captain Maniac Saves the Ship from Certain Destruction". Elementary Number Theory class,
The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, 1997 (performed jointly with Leslie Hallock).
MATHEMATICAL THEATRICAL TELEVISION PROGRAMS
"From the Life of Trigonometrical Functions". In 1980 on Czechoslovak
National Television a program entitled:
"From the Life of Trigonometrical Functions" was performed. This program was based
on a script which I wrote. In this program there were sines, cosines, hyperbolic sines, lemniscate sines and other functions -- living just as we humans live --
these functions interacted with us and in fact spied upon us. But there was a difference. Some of these functions lived a periodic orderly life from zero to
2π, but some were never organized, never periodic, and their lives were quite chaotic. The periodic, organized sinus was very careful to calculate when he
would become larger than the key hole in the door, and when he could possibly become stuck and then be discovered as a spy! (The director of this TV show was
so immersed in this project that even during intermission during rehersal, he called the actors 'sine!', 'cosine!', 'hyperbolic cosine!'...)
SELECTED FURTHER MATHEMATICAL THEATRICAL PLAYS
Various mini-plays performed with Leslie Hallock Mináčová in classes at The University of Western
Ontario. These include:
Romeo's Infinitely Many Primes Save Juliet
Quadratic Reciprocity Bear of the Baskervilles
Roots of Unity Store
Captain Maniac Saves the Ship with Algebraic Numbers
A Jungle of Algebraic Numbers
Incredible Sale of Bernoulli Numbers
Alexander, Rasputin, and Vector Spaces
A Doctor's Investigation and Diagnosis of Critical,
Painful Points on Functions
Some further plays performed with Leslie Hallock Mináčová at various locations.
Charming Cohomological Killer Still on the Loose (performed with Ganesh Bhandari,
Ortho Flint, and Leslie Hallock Mináčová). The University of Western Ontario, 2004.
Milnor's Super-Lotto. Oberwolfach, 1995.
A u-invariant on the Roof. A short mathematical musical based on the Broadway
musical "A Fiddler on the Roof", and the joint mathematics work of Ján Mináč
with Adrian Wadsworth, 1993. 7 typescript pages.
Hamlet and Pfister Forms (a tragedy in four acts), 1992. 9 typescript pages (corrected and updated, July 2009).
Demuskin Groups as Galois Groups. A tragicomedy based upon two joint
mathematical papers by Ján Mináč and Roger Ware, 1991. 8 typescript pages.
A Mysterious Stranger in the Midst of Eccentrics Inhabiting the World
of Invariants of Quadratic Forms. Some Recent Revelations.
The University of Western Ontario, 1991.
From the Life of Trigonometrical Functions. Television program in the former Czechoslovakia, 1980.
Prizes which I did not receive :
Bocher Memorial Prize
Christopher Awards
International Emmy Award for Best Foreign Documentary 2002
(This one, however, was received by my brother.
I have only one brother, and he is a film director. He loves to direct both films and his wife, son, mother,
and older brother (guess who that is). So far he did not receive any prizes for his latter directing.)
Fields Medal
(Mathematics, awarded approximately every four years. But there is a catch: you have to be no more than forty years old! And they
begin to count as soon as you are born and keep track of each year thereafter. Your clock is ticking even while you are still
in kindergarten and you might not even have heard either of mathematics nor of the Fields Medal yet.
So, this prize is quite tough!)
Frank Nelson Cole Prize in Algebra
Frank Nelson Cole Prize in Number Theory
George David Birkhoff Prize in Applied Mathematics
Leroy P. Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement which I did not receive in 1954
Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Nobel Prize in Economics
Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Prize in Mathematics (there is no such prize, but in any case I didn't receive this one either)
Nobel Prize in Physics
(It's quite neat. You can attend the Nobel laureate reunion, but first you have to get the prize.)
The Norbert Wiener Prize in Applied Mathematics
Oswald Veblen Prize in Geometry
Simon K. Guggenheim Fellowship (each year)...
...and the list goes on and on!
Lectures which I did not deliver: (the list that follows is far from exhaustive)
International Congress of Mathematicians, Beijing 2002. One hour address entitled, "Finally
we understand the absolute Galois group of Q."
International Congress of Mathematicians, Madrid 2006. One hour address entitled, "Riemann
hypothesis - some surprises."
