David Kung, associate professor of mathematics at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, will break out his violin for his upcoming lecture, “How Math Made Modern Music Mad Irrational,” at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan 26 in the Edwards Recital Hall at Coastal Carolina University. The event is free and open to the public.

Kung will play passages from classical and modern composers to illustrate some of the mathematical principles of musical sound. His talk will focus on the concept of correct tuning and the development of the musical scale.

An award-winning mathematics educator who has nurtured a lifelong interest in music, Kung has written many scholarly articles on harmonic analysis and he plays in a local orchestra in Maryland. He received the 2006 Teaching Award from the Maryland/Virginia/DC sector of the Mathematical Association of America.

The event is part of the MA+H: applied lecture series sponsored by CCU’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics. The series explores the applications of mathematics and statistics to other academic disciplines.