Skip to content

Commit

Permalink
Adding the About page.
Browse files Browse the repository at this point in the history
  • Loading branch information
@kenmonks
kenmonks committed Dec 3, 2024
1 parent 3fbeb2b commit ef90a2d
Showing 1 changed file with 158 additions and 0 deletions.
158 changes: 158 additions & 0 deletions about/index.html
View file
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang='en'>

<head>
<title>About Lurch</title>
<meta charset='utf-8' />
<meta name='description'
content='This is the home page for lurch.plus, the home of the Lurch proof assistant, plus additional content.' />
<meta name='keywords'
content='Lurch, Lurch plus, proof assistant, math academy, summer courses, math proof camp, math proofs, mathematical proof, proof class, proof course, summer math camp, summer math program, summer math class, math camp, math program, math class, MATHCOUNTS, AMC, AIME, USAMO, IMO, ARML, math contest training, math competition training, math olympiad, AP olympiad, Intel Science, ISEF, ISTS, Regeneron competition, Siemens competition, math gifted, summer school program, camps for kids, academic summer camp, summer academy, summer schools, summer school usa, summer academic programs, summer classes, academy of mathematics, university of scranton, Lehigh Valley ARML' />
<meta name='viewport' content='width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0' />
<link rel='shortcut icon' href='../assets/media/favicon-L+.svg' />

<link
href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans:400,600,400italic,700,300"
rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<link
href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Merriweather:wght@300;400;700&display=swap"
rel="stylesheet">

<link rel='stylesheet' href='../assets/css/monks.css'>
<link rel='stylesheet' href='../assets/css/lurchplus.css'>

<!-- <link rel='stylesheet' href='assets/css/bootstrap.min.css'> -->

</head>

<body>

<!-- left nav is positioned absolute so it doesn't scroll -->
<div id='leftnav'>
<img src='../assets/media/lurchlogo.png'
style='margin: 0px; border-radius: 5px; display: block'
width='100%' />
<ul>
<li><a href='/' target='_self'>Home</a></li>
<li><a href='#history' >History</a></li>
<li><a href='#why_lurch' >Why "Lurch"?</a></li></ul>
<div id="contact">
<div>
<a href="mailto:[email protected]">Ken Monks</a>
</div>
<div>
<a href="https://monks.scranton.edu"
target="_blank">monks.scranton.edu</a>
</div>
<div>
<a href="https://proveitmath.org"
target="_blank">proveitmath.org</a>
</div>
</div>
</div>

<!-- flex column for content-block and footer-block -->
<div id='wrap'>

<div id='content-block'>
<div class="title-box">
<h1>About Lurch</h1>
<h2>Lurch plus other goodies!</h2>
</div>
<p>Lurch Plus is the offical home of the Lurch proof verification project and its applications. In addition to housing the latest official version of the Lurch web application, it also contains supporting topics, content, course materials, and assignments for an undergraduate Introduction to Proof course.</p>
<h2 id="history">Project History</h2>
<p>In 1995, I taught an undergraduate course on Chaos and Fractals. At the time, our department did not offer a bridge course to introduce students to mathematical proofs. To address this, I began the course with an introduction to mathematical proof, using a modified version of Gentzen's natural deduction. During the course, one of the students, Nathan Carter, a mathematics and computer science major, asked about the possibility of developing a computer program to verify such proofs. This led to collaborative discussions and the initial design and implementation of a few simple tools before Nathan graduated and pursued graduate studies in mathematics.</p>
<p>In 2008, we secured funding through an NSF grant (NSF DUE CCLI grant #0736644) to develop the first version of the proof verification software. I subsequently incorporated this desktop application, known as Lurch, into my Introduction to Proof classes and the Prove It! mathematics summer program. Building on the insights gained from this initial version, we undertook a complete redesign, transforming Lurch into the web application it is today.</p>
<p>In Spring 2024, I used the new version of Lurch in my Introduction to Proof course for the first time, and it proved to be highly successful.</p>
<h2 id="why_lurch">Why is it called 'Lurch'?</h2>
<p>The origin story of the name actually involves a computer algebra system, types of trees (the plants, not the discrete structures), and a Monty Python skit.</p>
<p>Back in the 1990's, Nathan and I were brainstorming designs for an application that would be an &quot;expert system for verifying mathematical proofs analogous to the way the Maple CAS is an expert system for doing algebraic computations&quot;. To distinguish the designs from each other and from Maple we naming them after other trees besides Maple - Elm, Oak, Ash - you get the idea.</p>
<p>We eventually named one after a particular tree that was made humorously famous by a Monty Python sketch - the Larch. But as the design evolved, we made a small adjustment and decided the result needed a slightly modified name. Enter Lurch. The name stuck, and we really can't imagine calling it anything else at this point.</p>

</div>

<div id='footer-block'>
<footer>
<div class='container'>
<div class='row'>
<div class='col-xs-12'>
<h3>
<a href='http://monks.scranton.edu/' target='_blank'>Dr. Kenneth
G. Monks</a>
</h3>
Department of Mathematics<br />
University of Scranton<br />
Scranton, PA 18510
</div>
</div>
<div class='row' id='more-contact-info'>
<div class='col-xs-12 col-md-4' id='email-footer'>
<img src='../assets/media/envelope.svg'
style='vertical-align: middle; padding-right: 0.2em;' />
<a href='mailto:[email protected]'
target='_blank'>[email protected]</a>
</div>
<div class='col-xs-12 col-md-4 center' id='lurch-footer'>
<span class='checkmark' style='padding-right:0.2em'>✓</span>
<a href='http://lurch.plus'>lurch.plus</a>
</div>
<div class='col-xs-12 col-md-4' id='proveit-footer'>
<img src='../assets/media/therefore.svg'
style='vertical-align: middle; padding-right: 0.2em; height: 0.8em' />
<a href='https://proveitmath.org' target='_blank'>Prove
it!&nbsp;Math Academy</a>
</div>
</div>
<!-- row -->
<div id='copyright'>
Copyright &copy; Kenneth G. Monks
</div>
</div>
</footer>
</div>

</div>

<script src='../assets/js/utils.js'></script>
<script>
document.addEventListener('click', (event) => {
const link = event.target.closest('a') // Check if the clicked element is an anchor
if (link && !link.hasAttribute('target') &&
!link.getAttribute('href')?.startsWith('#')) {
event.preventDefault() // Prevent default behavior
window.open(link.href, '_blank') // Open link in a new tab
}
})
</script>
<script>
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function () {
const rows = document.querySelectorAll('tr[data-href]'); // Select only rows with data-href
rows.forEach(row => {
row.addEventListener('click', function () {
const url = this.getAttribute('data-href');
if (url) {
openLurch(url)
// window.location.href = url; // Navigate to the URL
}
})
})
})
</script>

<script>
window.MathJax = {
tex: {
inlineMath: [
["$", "$"]
],
processEscapes: true
},
};
</script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/mathjax@3/es5/tex-svg.js"
id="MathJax-script"></script>


</body>

</html>

0 comments on commit ef90a2d

Please sign in to comment.