196884 = 196883 + 1 and the wonders of moonshine

We will explain what ``Monstrous Moonshine" is and cover connections with lattices, Hecke operators, modular forms, and much more, ending with speculation on Witten's 24-dimensional monstrous spin manifold (Hirzebruch, Berger, and Jung: Manifolds and modular forms).

This talk is for those with no prior knowledge of the topic.

Refreshments will be served at 2:45 p.m. in the Faculty Lounge, Math Annex (Room 1115).