Typically, when people think about math, they picture difficult tests and incomprehensible problems. However, Arthur Benjamin, a professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, is determined to change the negative perceptions of math through magic and impressive feats of mental mathematics.

Benjamin has been using magic and math to impress audiences of all ages ever since he was in high school. He started with magic by learning tricks in books and performing at birthday parties.

About the time he was entering college, his father suggested to him that he combine his love of magic with his love of math. The reaction that Benjamin achieved through his math skills was much more enthusiastic than he expected.

Ever since he discovered a new way to make math fun, he’s been performing all over the country, teaching people about math while keeping them entertained.

Benjamin visited Winona State University on Thursday, March 15 and Friday, March 16 for a series of shows outlining the secrets behind advanced mental math, probability and magic card tricks.

His first lecture focused on the probability of a well-known game of luck. He broke down the actual probabilities of winning a game of bingo. His second lecture revealed the secrets behind some of the most advanced mental math possible and his third lecture focused on magic card tricks and the math behind them that makes it all possible.

In his second lecture, Benjamin started off the show by doing a card trick involving an imaginary card that became real. After he had gotten our attention, he aimed less to confuse and mystify us and more to impress and teach. He showcased his math abilities by squaring numbers with two, three and four digits.

In some cases, he was even able to multiply or square two digit numbers faster than his volunteers could punch the numbers into their calculators. Benjamin could also tell you what day of the week you were born just by knowing the date. In fact he can do this with any day in history.

His ended with solving the equation 36,496 times 89,153 mentally.

After the magic act, he showed the audience how he solved these problems. Many of them came down to basic algebraic equations, but some required a much higher level of mathematical understanding.

Benjamin said the goal of these shows are to inform the audience of what they are capable of.

“My goal is not to see how smart I am, but how smart they can be,” Benjamin said. “I hope they gain an appreciation of what they can do and that numbers can be fun and useful.”