Mathematical Lego

Plants can undergo incredible shape changes and movement, from leaves following the sun, to the Venus flytrap catching its prey, to trees growing over 100m tall.  To better understand and control these shape changes we need to understand the behaviours of a single cell and this is where mathematical modelling comes in!

It’s a bit like using small individual Lego bricks to build a larger physical model; we can examine the impact of changes to individual cells on the shape of the whole plant.

Join Dr Rosemary Dyson for this Birmingham Popular Mathematics Lecture shedding light on the ways mathematical modelling has allowed us to find out lots of interesting things about how plants work and has transformed the way we study plant growth, forming the basis of research undertaken around the world.

Admission free, no booking required. 

This event is presented as part of the University of Birmingham's Arts & Science Festival (16-22 March 2015), a week-long celebration of ideas, research and collaboration across campus.