Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
"I mean the third"cried the old man taking up the geometry book. "Well, young lady..."and he bent over his daughter. The princess gazed with terror into her father's keen eyes. He, on his part, got angry - pushed away his chair, dragged it back with a cl- ter - trying all the while to control himself; then again he would break out and storm, and wish the whole thing to the devil. As ill-luck would have it, to-day again his daughter answered at random and wrongly. "What an idiot "he exclaimed, flinging down the book. The he rose, walked up and down, came back and stroked his daughter's hair, sat down again, and began his explanation once more. "It does not do, princess, it does not do," he said, seeing her rise to leave him with VII the book in her hand. "Mathematics is a noble science, and I do not want you to be just like all the silly young ladies one meets. Persevere and you will learn to like the work, and the dullness will be nocked out of your brain. " These words were spoken by Prince Andrei Bolkonskij, who was talking to Princess Marja Bolokonskaja, his daughter. They are two of the protagonists of Lev Tolstoy's War and Peace, finished in 1869.
Synopsis
Homage to Coxeter.- H. M. S. Coxeter: A Brief Tribute.- Donald in Wonderland: The Many-Faceted Life of H. S. M. Coxeter.- Mathematics and Images.- Vision and Reality: Empiricism and Geometry.- Stars.- Mathematics and Venice.- An Arbritarily Small Epsilon: The Murrine of Venice and Murano.- Mathematics and Applications.- Mathematical Models for Meteorology.- The Mathematics in defense of the environment.- Mathematics and Architecture.- The Muqarnas Dome of the Hall of the Two Sisters in the Alhambra in Granada.- Mathland: From Topology to Virtual Architecture.- Architecture as Topological Transformation.- The New 'Parco della Musica' Auditorium: Anatomy of a Mega-Project.- Mathematics and Education.- Mathematics in ...: A Format for Mathematics Exhibits.- Learning Math Through the Arts.- Mathematics and Medicine.- Mathematics in the Blood.- HIV/AIDS, Agriculture and Food Security in Africa.- The Use of Mathematical Models for the Spread of AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.- Mathematics and Fashion.- Abstraction and Concreteness, Rigour and Elegance.- Mathematics and Art.- Towards Mathematical Aesthetics.- The Search for Stress-reducing Fractal Art: From Jackson Pollock to Frank Gehry.- Armando Pizzinato.- Armando Pizzinato.- Armando Pizzinato: A Twentieth-Century Adventure in Expression.- Mathematics and Theatre.- Bustric Recounts Bustric.
Synopsis
This volume of the Mathematics and Culture series is dedicated to Italian artist Armando Pizzicato. The work of Pollock is also discussed, thanks to the collaboration of the Venice Guggenheim Collection. Mathematics creates beauty in architecture, from topology to the projects of Gehry and Piano to the muqarnas of Islam. But mathematics can also save lives. Mathematical models can help fight cancer and AIDS, and intervene in their cure. Mathematics can also be used to protect the environment. In the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, the discussion of the use of mathematical models in meteorology and the prediction of storms is particularly timely. This volume wouldn't be complete without Venice and its glass, the fantastic collection of murrine of Giovanni Sarpellon. There is even a bit of magic, thanks to Bustric. And finally, an homage to a great mathematician: H.S.M. Donald Coxeter.