Geometreks
Few people expect to encounter mathematics on a visit to an art gallery or even a walk down a city street (or across campus). When we explore the world around us with mathematics in mind, however, we see the many ways in which mathematics can manifest itself, in streetscapes, sculptures, paintings, architectural structures, and more. This illustrated presentation offers illuminating glimpses of mathematics, from Euclidean geometry and normal distributions to Riemann sums and Möbius strips, as seen in a variety of structures and artworks in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Toronto, Ottawa, New Orleans, and many other locales.
Online Bibliography
References
Peterson, I. 2001. Fragments of Infinity: A Kaleidoscope of Math and Art. Wiley.
Places
Cambridge, MA
Charlottesville, VA
Montreal
Ottawa
Paris
Philadelphia
St. Louis, MO
Seattle
Toronto
- Art Walk
- Ontario College of Art & Design
- Art on the TTC
- Stainless Steel in Urban Sculpture
- Outdoor Art in Toronto
Washington, DC
- Mathematical Association of America
- National Gallery of Art
- Sculpture Garden, National Gallery of Art
People
Euclidean Geometry
Bergamini, D., and the editors of LIFE. 1963. Mathematics. New York: Time.
Devlin, K. 1998. Life by the Numbers. New York: Wiley.
Peterson, I. 2003. Geometreks. Science News Online (Nov. 8). Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20031108/mathtrek.asp.
______. 2001. Fragments of Infinity: A Kaleidoscope of Math and Art. New York: Wiley. See http://www.isama.org/book/fragments/.
______. 2000. Puzzling lines. Science News Online (June 10). Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20000610/mathtrek.asp.
______. 2000. Math trails in Ottawa. Science News Online (May 27). Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20000527/mathtrek.asp.
Take a virtual tour of the National Gallery of Art's East Building at http://www.nga.gov/collection/eastarch1.htm. Information about I.M. Pei's design can be found at http://www.nga.gov/collection/20th_intro.htm.
Fractals
Friedman, N. 2003. Fractals bounding negative space: Fractal stone prints. Mathematics Awareness Month. Available at http://mathforum.org/mam/03/essay5.html.
Peterson, I. 2003. Fractured granite and fractal prints. Science News Online (April 5). Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20030405/mathtrek.asp.
______. 2002. Fractal roots and artful math. Science News Online (April 5). Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20020608/mathtrek.asp.
Hyperbolic Geometry
Henderson, D.W., and D. Taimina. 2001. Crocheting the hyperbolic plane. Mathematical Intelligencer 23(No. 2):17-28.
Peterson, I. 2004. Anatomy of a bead creature. Science News Online (April 17). Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20040417/mathtrek.asp.
______. 2003. Hyperbolic five. Science News Online (Aug. 30). Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20030830/mathtrek.asp.
______. 2000. Visions of infinity. Science News 158(Dec. 23&30):408-410.
You can learn more about hyperbolic tilings and art at http://mathforum.org/mam/03/essay1.html.
Additional information about hyperbolic tilings can be found at http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/poincare/poincare.html.
You can learn more about the poet William Carlos Williams at http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=120. A QuickTime video clip presenting his 1928 poem "The Great Figure" is available at http://www.learner.org/catalog/extras/vvspot/video/williams.html.
