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Tag 'mathematics'
Below are all blog posts with the tag 'mathematics'.
See also all blog posts and other tags.
New Balloon Pages: Hyperbolic Planes, Fractals
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Just in case there were not enough hyperbolic planes in your life, I've updated the balloon webpage to have a section on creating hyperbolic planes out of balloons.
I also put up a small page on Sierpinski's Tetrahedron. I'll be leading a workshop where we make a large one at the BRIDGES conference in two weeks. But first, I'm off to Paris to speak at the ESMA conference!
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— posted
Friday, July 16, 2010 at 01:16PM EDT
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Gathering for Martin Gardner
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Martin Gardner (1914–2010) had a profound influence on my life. I have read and enjoyed his work, yet most of his influence was second hand. Many of those who taught me the wonder and beauty of mathematics—my father chief among them—were inspired by Martin's works, especially his column "Mathematical Games" in Scientific American. And the Gathering for Gardner, a bi-annual event in his honor, has kept me amazed and enthralled with the incredible things that us humans are doing and have done, since I first attended when I was 17. Though I am sad about his death, even more than that I am happy in celebration of his long and full life; that he could have such a huge indirect influence on me shows that his legacy will continue, and I am glad to be a part of it.
To get a sense of the kind of wonderful things he's inspired, check out reports from this year's Gathering for Gardner, such as this article by Bob Crease in The Wall Street Journal, or more recently, this one by Alex Bellos in The New Scientist. The building of the balloon snub dodecahedron mentioned in that article is shown at right, and the print version of contains a rather large picture of myself holding a balloon octahedron in front of my face.
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— posted
Monday, May 24, 2010 at 08:55PM EDT
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Human Geometry at BRIDGES 2009
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The BRIDGES conference is always a lot of fun, but this year was especially so. Not only did I meet and hang out with lots of great people, give a talk, host music night as well as jam with lots of other mathematical musicians, and act in theater night, but I also got tessellated.
Yes, one of the many fun people I hung out with was Mike Naylor, the mastermind behind Naked Geometry. A group of us got together and tried doing some human geometry. Here is a cube we made with ourselves, and a lovely tessellation that Mike created out of me.
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— posted
Friday, August 14, 2009 at 01:13AM EDT
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Math Midway a Success
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The Math Midway premiered last Sunday to great success! The Organ Function Grinder, for which I wrote the music, was a lot of fun to play with. I designed an algorithm which would transform an input melody, creating a mathematical piece of music dependent on how the dials are set and what ticket is input. This algorithm was then programmed into Mathematica by George Hart. I hope to get up video footage soon so that you can hear the results!
I also spent the day making magic balloon octahedra for people. Here are some pictures from the event:
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A girl sets the dials on the organ function grinder, while her friend inserts a number ticket. |
Making a balloon octahedron wand (orange), watched by a girl who just received one (light blue). In the background, people ride square-wheeled tricycles. |
Learn more about the other exhibits at the Math Midway on their website.
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— posted
Thursday, June 18, 2009 at 01:16AM EDT
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Upcoming Premier: Organ Function Grinder
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I wrote over 12,000 pieces last month! They were commissioned by the Math Factory for the Math Midway, an interactive mathematics exhibit which will be part of the World Science Festival Street Fair on Sunday June 14 in New York City, at Washington Square Park, from 10AM to 6PM. I'll be there!
The 12,000 pieces are for an "organ fuction grinder." You choose a number to input, and set some dials to various mathematical transformations. Not only does the number get put through the transformations, but a musical theme also! For example, if you add three to your number, the melody gets transposed up three steps. It's very cool to play with the Mathematica version, programmed by George Hart, and I plan to get an online version up in the future.
The rest of the Math Midway exhibit promises to be really fun too. There will be a tricycle with square wheels which, as you can try for yourself, gives a perfectly smooth ride! There will also be giant puzzles and other cool stuff.
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Math Midway
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— posted
Wednesday, June 03, 2009 at 10:38PM EDT
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Symmetry in Music: Paper and Pieces
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Symmetry is a common tool in composition, but no one has thoroughly studied all symmetry patterns that are possible in music... until now! “Symmetry and Transformations in the Musical Plane” will appear in the proceedings of BRIDGES 2009, and I'll be in Banff this summer to present it.
Related to this paper is a seven-movement piece in which each movement is inspired by and contains the symmetry of each of the seven frieze patterns. The piece will ultimately be a piano trio, but three movements of the piano sketch are now available:
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— posted
Monday, April 27, 2009 at 06:05PM EDT
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