Thursday, December 01, 2011

Math as Art (Part 1)

Mathematics has gotten a bad reputation for being dry, stodgy, and decidedly uncreative – a very left-brained activity. This reputation is undeserved, however. In fact, math is art!

A recent article on the Apple Web site highlighted the work of Michael Trott, a pioneer in the effort to popularize the creative/artistic side of pure mathematics and the world’s most advanced Mathematica user.

The article begins:

“Fifteen years ago, Michael Trott, a theoretical physicist at a small university in Germany, carried his department’s only available computer, a Macintosh IIfx, from his office to the lecture hall every week to share knowledge about Stephen Wolfram’s groundbreaking mathematics application, Mathematica.”

Read the full text of the article here:

http://www.apple.com/science/profiles/trott/.

You can view examples of some of Trott’s beautiful mathematical art, and works of other Mathematica users, here:

http://www.borlandeducational.com/page10/page10.html.

A Google search for “mathematical art” will lead to innumerable other sites and resources through which to explore this under-appreciated aspect of mathematics, the language of science.

(Click here to go to part 2.)

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