Integral Day!

Each October 29, the Department of Mathematics celebrates Integral Day, to honor the day on which Gottfried Leibniz wrote the first modern integral sign. Leibniz wrote the symbol in an unpublished manuscript on October 29, 1675. The Department serves "calculus cookies" and "summation cider" to students and faculty in the Mathematics Suite. The Suite itself is adorned with integral/summation ornaments. Outside of the Mathematics Suite, a large bulletin board features an Integral Day display. Many components of our celebration have a Halloween theme, due to the proximity of Integral Day to October 31st. In the afternoon, courageous students compete in the Integral Contest, in which participants work individually on a list of integrals. Integral Day is sponsored by the SBU Student Chapter of the MAA. In the spring, the SBU Student Chapter sponsors Pi Day.

Integral Day 2005

We held our first Integral Day in 2005. In 2005, October 29th fell on a Saturday, so we celebrated the event on October 28th. Mathematics major Tim McGue '05 solved the most integrals in the Integral Contest, earning him a $20 gift certificate for the SBU Bookstore.

Professor Cathie Leary baked and hand-decorated 120 Integral Day cookies.

Beth Hartnett, a master's candidate in secondary mathematics education, helped to create Integral Day ornaments, which were hung from the ceiling of the Mathematics Suite. Each ornament featured integration on one side and summation on the other.

The Integral Day display. A large bulletin board was covered with black cardstock to create a
"blackboard," on which numerous integrals were written in chalk. The orange sheets informed
passersby about the meaning of Integral Day, the nature of calculus, and the contributions of
Gottfried Leibniz and Isaac Newton.