63rd Annual STS (2003-2004)
Finalists
Linda Brown Westrick

VIRGINIA
Linda Brown Westrick, 18, of Mechanicsville, submitted an Intel Science Talent Search project in mathematics concerning the "number derivative," a concept introduced in a recent mathematics contest, which is analogous to the familiar calculus derivative. Linda developed fundamental properties of this new derivative and its relationship to factorization of integers. She further extended the notion to the rational numbers and analyzed solutions to the differential equations x'=a and x'=ax, where x' is the number derivative of x. After graduating from Maggie L. Walker Governor's School in Richmond, Linda hopes to attend Harvard eventually earning her doctorate in mathematics. She is founder and president of the school's math club, project manager for the robotics club, and active in QuizBowl. Linda's many interests include swing dancing, varsity soccer, piano, weightlifting, building calculators out of transistors and programming computers. Fluent in German, she says she would like to learn many languages because each one allows her to think differently. The daughter of John and Anne Westrick, Linda took a spiritual pilgrimage to Lakota holy lands two summers ago.