Impact

BEAUTIFUL MATH GETS INTO YOUR HEAD, HEART & SOUL

by Luc Benard. Featured in the IMAGINARY EXHIBIT: “Lyapunov Play”.

We are made of math. It’s part of what makes us beautiful. If you dive deep into the imaginary and realities of math, you might just agree, that math is everything… and everything is math. Check the impact beautiful math has on real lives now.

IMAGINARY MATH THROUGH BEAUTIFUL EYES

IMAGINARY is a platform for open and interactive mathematics, with a collection of images and interactive programs that are designed to help everyone see the beauty of math.

The interactive IMAGINARY exhibition Through the Eyes of Mathematics, a project by Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, is an exhibit that is touring art galleries around the world now.

It features a variety of content that can be used in schools, at home, in museums, at exhibitions or for events and media activities.

It visualizes complex mathematical formulas and theories to enable people to participate and explore their own ideas. The core idea is that exhibits are created within the community.

The exhibition consists of visualizations, interactive installations, virtual realities, and 3D objects. “The imaginary and unimaginable of mathematics is illustrated, it turns to images which you can generate yourself.”

The exhibit consists of four main areas: a gallery of beautiful mathematical images, interactive stations to experiment with math and learn complex equations in an entertaining environment, an area where mathematical movies are shown, and a showcase with 3D sculptures of algebraic surfaces.

In the interactive area, the exhibition features the IMAGINARY cube. This walk-in installation is a beautifully designed aluminum 3D cube. As you enter the area, mathematical formulas transform into a series of stunning images. These feature the phenomenal algebraic surfaces created by Herwig Hauser.

Having toured more than 60 countries already, the main exhibit is currently on display in Germany by the Klaus Tschira Foundation. As the IMAGINARY organization continues to expand, they are also hosting programs around the world now to reveal the aesthetic beauty of mathematics.

The the next workshop is to be held this November in South Africa.

STRUCK BY GENIUS

Truly a remarkable story, Struck by Genius: How a Brain Injury Made Me a Mathematical Marvel details the life of Jason Padgett, an ordinary person who after a mugging accident and a brain injury, acquired savant syndrome with a profound capacity for knowledge in mathematics.

For the first time in his life, Jason could see the mathematical designs hidden in the world around us unlike anyone else.

The book outlines Jason’s beautiful journey of overcoming setbacks and embracing his newfound mathematical ability. Padgett’s injury is the first documented case of acquired savant syndrome with mathematical synesthesia, making this a one of a kind story.

Struck by Genius is a very intimate and inspiring read that shows how sometimes the hardest thing in life can be to understand ourselves.

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Math in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 09.21.14. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!

PHOTO CREDITS:

Image: by Luc Benard. Featured in the IMAGINARY EXHIBIT: “Lyapunov Play”.
Image: by Jos Leys. Featured in the IMAGINARY EXHIBIT: “The Lorenz Attractor”.
Image: Courtesy of Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach. Featured in the IMAGINARY EXHIBIT.
Image: Courtesy of Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach. Sofa: x2 + y3 + z5 = 0.
Image: by Uli Gaenshirt. Quasicrystalline Wickerwork.
Image: by Herwig Hauser. IMAGINARY Cube Image: “Limão”
Image: Courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. “Struck by Genius”.
Illustration: by Jason Padgett. Double Slit Test.
Illustration: by Jason Padgett. Quantum Hand Through My Eyes.
Illustration: by Jason Padgett. Quantum Snowfall.