Detail from the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef. Photo Credit: NearEMPTiness, Wikimedia Commons. Title Quote from The Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims Version, Ephesians 3:18 A recent podcast episode of On Being with Krista Tippett features a conversation with Margaret Wertheim, a science writer who is interested in making difficult scientific concepts more accessible to the public. She joined forces with her identical twin sister Christine … Read More
Thought Experiment: Euclid Alone Has Looked on Beauty Bare
Alvin Loving, Rational Irrationalism, 1969. The Whitney Museum, NYC. http://collection.whitney.org/object/2284 I am particularly drawn to artwork that is inspired by elements of mathematics, such as geometric forms and visual representations of topologies or concepts of infinity. Some well-known examples are M.C. Escher’s tessellations and Möbius strips, Salvador Dalí’s hypercube in his Crucifixion, and the golden ratio in Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. Art … Read More
Thought Experiment: Creating a Dance, Dancing the Creation
Statue of Lord Shiva’s Nataraja Dance, at CERN. Photo Credit: Kenneth Lu, Wikimedia Commons One of the things I love about attending the World Science Festival is the way that the events often incorporate music and dance so that aspects of modern science that are difficult to conceptualize are also presented in a different form. For example, a while ago … Read More
Thought Experiment: The Here-And-Now
A while back I had the good fortune of getting to see first-hand the incredible sculpture Broken Obelisk by Barnett Newman when it was on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Credit: Beek100, Wikimedia Commons It depicts an upside-down obelisk balanced (seemingly precariously) atop a pyramid. Among other things, it made me think of the “Minkowski light … Read More
Thought Experiment: “The Universe Is Calling”
Credit: NASA, Wikimedia Commons With the discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation, Penzias and Wilson were able to tune in and for the first time hear the residual hiss left over from the Big Bang. If you haven’t heard what it sounds like, here is a clip: I was reminded of that hiss when I heard the sound of the … Read More
Thought Experiment: Gravitational Waves
So I’ve recently been taken with the discovery of gravitational waves– the detected ripple in the fabric of space-time means that the “fabric” isn’t just a metaphor– it’s real. Space-time acts like an actual fabric, like a sheet that can stretch, bend, and wrinkle. Perhaps the fabric of space-time acts like it is knitted– and my knitting experience has shown … Read More