Classroom

Abstract

In this section of Resonance, we invite readers to pose questions likely to be raised in a classroom situation. We may suggest strategies for dealing with them, or invite responses, or both. “Classroom” is equally a forum for raising broader issues and sharing personal experiences and viewpoints on matters related to teaching and learning science.

Diophantine geometry is a fascinating interplay between algebra, geometry and number theory. The author was introduced to it in a blackboard-less one-on-one talk given in the aerodrome at IIT Kanpur during a thunderstorm! The speaker was Professor V. Srinivas of the TIFR. At that point in time, the latter was a graduate student at the University of Chicago and happened to be in Kanpur.