Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Beautiful Math Of Everything And You Included, E. Ozie

The STEAM Journal

This a reflection on how there is beautiful math to everything. An author's interpretation of matrices and mechanics in its relationship to someone's identity.

About Time: Visualizing Time At Burning Man, Gordon D. Hoople, Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick, Nathaniel Parde, Diane Hoffoss, Max Mellette, Rachel Nishimura, Virginia Gutman

The STEAM Journal

About Time was a 30 foot long, 3000 pound wooden sundial that went up in flames at Burning Man 2019. The piece reflected on the role time plays in our lives. We organize our lives around time—are enslaved to time—and yet we know so little about it. Physicists and philosophers continue to grapple with deep puzzles of time—Is time a fundamental quantity, independent of human actions or observations or is it an emergent property of our perception? This installation projected time using two sundials: a horizontal dial which swept time out across the desert floor and an …

Dense Geometry Of Music And Visual Arts: Vanishing Points, Continuous Tonnetz, And Theremin Performance, Maria Mannone, Irene Iaccarino, Rosanna Iembo

The STEAM Journal

The dualism between continuous and discrete is relevant in music theory as well as in performance practice of musical instruments. Geometry has been used since longtime to represent relationships between notes and chords in tonal system. Moreover, in the field of mathematics itself, it has been shown that the continuity of real numbers can arise from geometrical observations and reasoning. Here, we consider a geometrical approach to generalize representations used in music theory introducing continuous pitch. Such a theoretical framework can be applied to instrument playing where continuous pitch can be naturally performed. Geometry and visual representations of concepts of …

Parametric Natura Morta, Maria C. Mannone

The STEAM Journal

Parametric equations can also be used to draw fruits, shells, and a cornucopia of a mathematical still life. Simple mathematics allows the creation of a variety of shapes and visual artworks, and it can also constitute a pedagogical tool for students.

Unfolding Humanity: Cross-Disciplinary Sculpture Design, Gordon D. Hoople, Nate Parde, Quinn Pratt, Sydney Platt, Michael Sween, Ava Bellizzi, Viktoriya Alekseyeva, Alex Splide, Nicholas Cardoza, Christiana Salvosa, Eduardo Ortega, Elizabeth Sampson

The STEAM Journal

Unfolding Humanity is a 12 foot tall, 30 foot wide, 2 ton interactive metal sculpture that calls attention to the tension between technology and humanity. This sculpture was conceived, designed, and built by a large group (80+) of faculty, students, and community volunteers at the University of San Diego (USD). The piece is a dodecahedron whose pentagonal walls unfold under human power, an engineered design that alludes to Albrecht Dürer's 500-year-old unsolved math problem on unfolding polyhedra. When closed, the mirrored interior of the sculpture makes visitors feel as though they are at the center of the universe. The idea …

Discovering And Demonstrating Patterns, Maria Klawe

The STEAM Journal

Harvey Mudd College's President Maria Klawe shares her personal journey in combining a love of mathematics and art.

Newton’S Third Law In Karmic Warfare, Kazmier Maślanka

The STEAM Journal

A work entitled "Newton's Third Law in Karmic Warfare" is a mathematical visual poem which is a perfect example of a technique, that I call The Paradigm Poem. This piece makes a direct connection with the concept of karma and Newton’s Third Law of motion. I will introduce the concept of “The Mathematical Paradigm Poem” to illuminate an example of how metaphor is used in mathematical visual poetry. I will also discuss much of the process in making this aesthetic expression.

Art, Math, And Physics; All About For, Chris Brownell, Steve Pauls

The STEAM Journal

Anish Kapoor’s public sculpture “Cloud Gate” and Frame of Reference.

Steam Inspired By Insight, Diana Vizcarra

The STEAM Journal

Innovators of the 21st century might come from unexpected places. Visual impairment is no barrier when technology and creativity intersect. The world needs blind innovators! The blind input data without visual association and download blueprints of their surroundings to format a mental database. They categorize patterns, textures, and conditions to perceive their location in space. They are able to capture the beauty of the world through poetry and predict future trends through past experience – all without visual access to the physical world they inhabit.

This writing was possible because of collaboration with Angie Menjivar.

The Efficacy Of Mathematics Education, Eric Geimer

The STEAM Journal

Evidence supports the notion that mathematics education in the United States is inadequate. There is also evidence that mathematics education deficiencies extend internationally. The worldwide mathematics education deficit appears large enough that improving student performance in this educational problem area could yield great economic benefit. To improve the efficacy of mathematics education, education’s root problems must first be understood. Often supposed educational root problems are considered and contrasted against potential deficiencies of mathematics methodologies and curricula that are based on mainstream educational philosophies. The educational philosophies utilized to form early-grade mathematics methodologies and related curricula are judged to be the …

Propeller, Joel Kahn

The STEAM Journal

This image is based on several different algorithms interconnected within a single program in the language BASIC-256. The fundamental structure involves a tightly wound spiral working outwards from the center of the image. As the spiral is drawn, different values of red, green and blue are modified through separate but related processes, producing the changing appearance. Algebra, trigonometry, geometry, and analytic geometry are all utilized in overlapping ways within the program. As with many works of algorithmic art, small changes in the program can produce dramatic alterations of the visual output, which makes lots of variations possible.