Thinking about the world using mathematics
Science & Cocktails is proud to announce a new episode with David Sumpter, Professor of Applied Mathematics at Uppsala University and the author of five books, including Soccermatics (2016), Outnumbered (2018), and Four Ways of Thinking (2023). David will take us on a journey through applied mathematics, from statistics to complexity theory, drawing examples from his work with football clubs and everyday life. As always, we will mix this with our signature cocktails, and this time, with the guitar-driven bluesy surf pop of Baby Snakes.
How do you know whether a statistical study of health and happiness applies to you? How can you improve your relationship using dynamical systems? How can you better deal with the chaos in your life? What do we mean when we say a person is complex? And how can we apply all of this mathematics to football?
Mathematics is about finding better ways of reasoning. For many applied mathematicians, the primary mission is to shape their minds in a way that gets them closer to the truth. The calculations are secondary; the real question is: how can we better understand the world around us? David will take us on a journey through applied mathematics, from statistics to complexity theory, drawing examples from his work with football clubs—signing the best players (statistical thinking) or organizing an attack (complex thinking)—and from everyday life—bickering less with our partners (interactive thinking) and learning to let go (chaotic thinking). David reimagines applied mathematics as a set of tools for life, from big work decisions to how we treat our friends, family, and colleagues. No problem is too big or too small for a mathematical solution.
Event held in English with the generous support of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Talk by
David Sumpter
David Sumpter is Professor of Applied Mathematics at Uppsala University. He is the author of five books, including Soccermatics (2016), Outnumbered (2018), and Four Ways of Thinking (2023). His research covers everything from the inner workings of fish schools and ant colonies to social psychology and segregation in society, to machine learning and artificial intelligence. He has consulted for leading football clubs and national teams and has written for The Economist: 1843 Magazine, The Telegraph, The Guardian, Prospect, and FourFourTwo magazine.
Music by
Baby Snakes
Named after a song by Frank Zappa, this band plays guitar-driven bluesy, surf pop-like tunes in a universe created in the southern, rural area of the legendary Danish island Fyn—also known as the Mediterranean part of Denmark. It doesn't get more real than this.
