Henri Laurie

Lecturer in Applied Mathematics

Degrees: B.A. (Stell.); B.Sc. (Unisa); B.Sc.(Hons), Ph.D. (Cape Town)

Email: henri@maths.uct.ac.za

Personal Web Page: None

Teaching and research interests:

My main interest is using mathematics to sharpen debates in plant ecology. I have worked on pattern analysis, the effect of size distribution, lottery models for Cape fynbos, heuweltjies, projective geometry for human motion and spatial dynamics. I also interested the weighing of shrubs by shaking them, and more on size effects.

Teaching: I would like to increase the emphasis on the meaning of mathematical statements, and to cultivate enthusiasm for mathematics as a meaningful and therefore useful activity.

Representative publications:

1. (with P. Mustart) A self-scaling method for detecting pattern in vegetation, SA J. Bot. 58 (1992), 537-539.

2. Formalism and constructing meaning: remarks on teaching negative numbers in Julie, Angelis, Davies, (eds), `Curriculum reconstruction for Society in Transition', Maskew Miller Longman, Cape Town, 1994.