Mathematicians are knitting and crocheting to visualize complex surfaces
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20061223/bob10.asp
Mathematics has long been an essential tool for the fiber arts. Knitters
and crocheters use mathematical principles—often without recognizing
them as such—to map the pattern of a cable sweater, for instance, or
figure out how to space the stitches when adding a sleeve onto a jacket.
Now, the two crafts are returning the favor. In recent years,
mathematicians such as Osinga have started knitting and crocheting
concrete physical models of hard-to-visualize mathematical objects. One
mathematician's crocheted models of a counterintuitive shape called a
hyperbolic plane are enabling her students and fellow mathematicians to
gain new insight into startling properties. Other mathematicians have
knitted or crocheted fractal objects, surfaces that have no inside or
outside, and shapes whose patterns display mathematical theorems.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://www.xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
http://www.glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
http://www.sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
