Our department hosted professor Moreno Bonda of the Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas, Lithuania, who delivered an insightful presentation on the topic Geometry, Probability, and Storytelling: Mathematical Approaches in Early Modern English Literature. We discussed mathematical language as it appears in Milton, the connection between János Bolyai and Alice in Wonderland, and the overall generative power of imagination. Thank you for your visit, professor!
Moreno Bonda earned his degree in the history of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in Turin, Italy. He holds a PhD in History from Kaunas, Lithuania, and studied Philology in Turin, Copenhagen, and Vilnius. His research brings these fields together by exploring the relationship between language and historical knowledge, with a particular focus on the use of mathematics in ecclesiastical historiography. For his work in science communication, he was awarded the Order of the Star of Italy in 2017, with the rank of Knight. He currently teaches at Vytautas Magnus University in the programmes of Italian Studies and Romance Languages, History, and Scandinavian Studies.