Saturday, May 31, 2014

Mathematics in Pictures- The Guardian

The beauty of mathematics – in pictures

The book 50 Visions of Mathematics is a collection of 50 short essays by 50 maths writers and a foreword by Dara O Briain. Launched on Wednesday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, it also contains 50 images supplied in response to an open call from the worldwide maths community. Here are my favourites
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crystal lattice
The Brillouin zones of a square crystal lattice in two dimensions, which underlie the analysis of waves propagating through the crystal. Image: R R Hogan, University of Cambridge
trefoil knot
A trefoil knot combining four parallel Möbius strips and a spiral tube running continuously round. Drawn freehand by Tom Holliday, inspired by M C Escher
tesseract
A 3D print of the tesseract, which is the four dimensional analogue of the cube. Sculpture by Saul Schleimer and Henry Segerman. Photograph: Henry Segerman
Mandelbox
The Mandelbox is a 3D fractal object that represents the points in space that do not move to infinity under the action of a set of geometric transformations. Image: Jos Leys
Mandelbrot set elephants
A much-magnified detail of the Mandelbrot set, revealing what appears to be a procession of elephants. Image by Philip Dawd, using the program winCIG Chaos Image Generator developed by Thomas Hvel. Copyright: Darwin College, University of Cambridge
bat triangle
Bat country, a 22ft tall Sierpinski tetrahedron composed of 384 softball bats, 130 balls, and a couple of thousand pounds of steel. Designed by Gwen Fisher, engineered by Paul Brown. Photograph: Gwen Fisher
Fibonacci spiral
A representation of 3,000 seeds on a sunflower with spirals occuring a Fibonacci number of times: 1, 1, 2,3, 5, 8, ... Image: Ron Knott
hyperbolic crochet
A crocheted model of the hyperbolic plane. Photograph: Daina Taimina
maths map
Map showing areas around Cambridge accessible via public transport, visualised in time bands of ten minutes, with a departure time of 9am. Image: Mapumental
julia set
A quaternion Julia set fractal. With the advent of 3-D printing, mathematical constructs like this can now be printed as physical objects, like the one below. Image: Rob Hocking
julia set model
A model of the Julia set in gold-plated brass. Photograph: Rob Hocking
fractal object
A hybrid 3-D fractal object, obtained using a combination of two sets of geometric transformations. Image: Jos Leys
squashed paper
The complex folding patterns that arise when a layered material (paper) is put into a test machine and squashed. Created by Timothy Dodwell and Andrew Rhead, University of Bath
maths of Forth Bridge
A demonstration of the mathematical principles of the original Forth Bridge in Scotland performed at Imperial College in 1887. The central 'weight' is Kaichi Watanabe, one of the first Japanese engineers to study in the UK, while Sir John Fowler and Benjamin Baker provide the supports. Photograph: Imperial College
chaotic pendulum
Long-exposure photograph of a double pendulum exhibiting chaotic motion. Photograph: Michael G Devereux
Pythagoras Theorem cake
The proof is in the pudding: cake illustration of Pythagoras's theorem, baked by Emiko Dupont. Photograph: Siân Jenkins

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