Tag Archives: escher

17

Jul. ’12

Partitions, Riddles, and Escher Videos

Welcome to this week’s Math Munch!

Meet James Tanton, one of my very favorite mathematicians. According to his bio, James is “deeply interested in bridging the gap between the mathematics experienced by school students and the creative mathematics practiced and explored by mathematicians.” Me too! Dr. Tanton is an author and math teacher, but I know him best through his internet videos. Some of them cover some pretty advanced mathematics, but this video on partitions and the Fibonacci numbers is very clear and WAY COOL!

o o oo ooo ooooo

Up next, check out Steve Miller’s Math Riddles, a website full of fantastic (you guessed it) math riddles collected by Steve Miller. Steve’s a math professor at Williams College, and according to him, these riddles, “have two very desirable properties: they have an elegant solution, and that solution doesn’t involve advanced mathematics… What you do need is some patience, and a willingness to explore. Don’t be afraid to try something — see where it leads!”

With that in mind, why not give some a try? You can sort the riddles by topic or difficulty, but here a few possible starters:

There are fifteen sticks. Remove six sticks and be left with ten.

Finally, some relaxing videos I’ve found to showcase once again the fantastic artwork of Dutch graphic artist, M.C. Escher. We’ve featured his work before, but I can never get enough.

3 Spheres II by M.C. Escher

“Mathematicians know their subject is beautiful. Escher shows us that it’s beautiful.” That’s a lovely little quote from mathematician Ian Stewart in this short little clip called, The Mathematical Art of M.C. Escher. If you’re up for something more substantial, here’s an hour-long documentary called Metamorphose, which features video of Escher himself hard at work, something I had never seen before! If you end up watching, leave us a comment and let us know what you think.

We’ve also put together a YouTube playlist of every video ever featured on Math Munch, which we will continue to update. If you want to find the coolest math vids on the internet, I’d say that’s a good place to start.

Bon appetit!

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06

May. ’12

Scott Kim, Puzzles, and Games

Welcome to this week’s Math Munch!

Scott Kim

Meet Scott Kim.  He’s loved puzzles ever since he was a kid, so these days he designs puzzles for a living.  He’s been writing puzzles for Discover Magazine for years in a monthly column called “The Boggler.”  Click that link to look through some of his Boggler archives.  Here’s a cool one he wrote in 2002 about hypercubes and the 4th dimension.

Ambigram

In his 11-minute TED talk, Scott tells the story of his career and shares some of his favorite puzzles, games, and ambigrams.  It’s also completely clear how much he really loves what he does (as do I.)

Knights on Horseback – M.C. Escher

I’ve always loved “figure/ground” images, where the leftover space from one shape creates another recognizable shape.  M.C. Escher created some of the most famous and well-known examples of figure/ground art, but Scott Kim took the idea a step further – making an interactive puzzle game based on the ideas.  Naturally, the game is called “Figure Ground,” and it’s delightfully tricky.  You can even create your own levels.  Scott has a whole page of web games.  Go play!

Symmetrical Alphabet – Ambigram by Scott Kim

Still hungry for more Scott Kim?  He gave a presentation for the Museum of Math‘s lecture series, Math Encounters.  You can watch the full-length video here.  You can also watch an interview he did with Vi Hart by clicking here.

Finally, after you read a Math Munch (or right in the middle) do you ever have a question you wish someone could answer or something you want explained?  Or do you ever wish we could help you find more of something you liked in the post?  Well we can do that!  Just leave a comment on the bottom of the page, and the Math Munch team will be very happy to answer.  We’d love to hear from our readers.

Bon appetit!

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09

Jan. ’12

Möbius, Escher, Hart

Happy New Year, and welcome to this week’s Math Munch!

Next week, the Math Munch team will be part of a Mathematical Art seminar, so we are featuring some great art.

Möbius Strip II (Red Ants) | M.C. Escher

Check out the Möbius strip.  It’s a topological space you can make by by putting a twist in a looped strip of paper.  It has the bizarre property of being one-sided!  Here’s a video of someone making it, but the music is pretty strange.  I found some Möbius info on an amazing math website called Cut The Knot.  Click here, here and here for three different Möbius pages.

Möbius Strip I | M.C. Escher

M.C. Escher popularized the Möbius strip by featuring them in his famous and mathematical prints.  The picture to the right gives you some idea what happens if you cut a Möbius strip in half.  You could give that a try.

If you look at these pictures, you’ll see why mathematicians love Escher’s art so much.  Escher liked to play with the impossible in his art, but several mathematicians have made his dreams reality.  Take a look at this site called Escher For Real.  If you liked that, check out the sequel, Beyond Escher for Real.

And of course, Vi Hart has done it again, this time with two pieces of Möbius art.  First, Vi bought a DIY (do-it-yourself) music box and wrote a Möbius song!  You can get your own music box here.  She also wrote a Möbius story called Wind and Mr. Ug, and the video is embedded below.

Hoping you have a mathematical week.  Bon appetit!

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