A Hénon Map Inspired by an Artwork Inspired by a Hénon map

As part of my maths in museums work I was talking to someone at the National Galleries of Scotland. The world of art lies a little outside my comfort zone, which is partly why I was interested in talking to them: if I want to encourage other people to venture outside their comfort zones in the direction of mathematics I should probably practice what I preach.

Anyway, just outside the Modern One gallery there is a sculpted land feature created by artist Charles Jencks called Landform which you can see to the top-right of the embedded satellite view of the area below:

The sweeping curves and other-worldly, natural-but-not-quite feel to this formation reminded me of something, but I couldn't immediately remember what. Somewhere in the back of my mind, Jeff Goldblum popped up:

Buildings Based on Mathematics

All buildings, as this fascinating article from the maths careers website reminds us, are built using mathematics. There are a number of astonishing buildings around the world, however, which display some of the beauty of mathematics for all to see. The article linked to below includes, for example, this spiral tower in Denmark:

Altogether, twelve very different architectural constructions are represented in the article, in locations as far apart as China, Italy, and a tiny service station off the A1 a bit south of Doncaster.

Buildings Based on Mathematics

Want to learn more about geometry? Try this free course from Alison.

Festive Fractals

I delivered a festive online session for Potential Plus UK in which I introduced participants to the idea of mathematical fractals. It includes a demonstration and instructions for creating your own fractal Christmas card.

View it in the player below - there's still time* to make your own and post to family and friends!

*Unless, of course, there isn't.

What's the point of... Imaginary Numbers?

A poster detailing some of the uses of imaginary numbers:

This is a reduced-size image. Download the full-resolution poster at the link below.

What's the point of... Imaginary Numbers?