MAA Writing Awards
Can One Hear the Shape of a Drum?
Year of Award: 1967
Award: Lester R. Ford, and also the Chauvenet Prize in 1968
Publication Information: The American Mathematical Monthly, vol. 73, 1966, Part II, pp. 1-23
Summary: The author shows how much about the shape of a drum can be inferred from the knowledge of all the eigenvalues and emphasizes the connections between this problem and various parts of mathematics and physics.
About the Author: (from The American Mathematical Monthly, vol. 73, (1966)) Mark Kac was at Rockefeller University at the time of publication.
