Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

In Mathematics, As In Art, Andrew Granville

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The artist’s vision helps decide what should be created; the mathematician’s insight what can be created. Yet most people view art as merely decoration, or a reflection of existing reality, while they think of mathematics as just a tool for accurate scientific description. Can more people learn to value and enjoy both art and mathematics? And spend a lifetime exploring them and appreciating them for their own sakes?

Intersection Cographs And Aesthetics, Robert Haas

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Cographs are complete graphs with colored lines (edges); in an intersection cograph, the points (vertices) and lines (edges) are labeled by sets, and the line between each pair of points is (or represents) their intersection. This article first presents the elementary theory of intersection cographs: 15 are possible on 4 points; constraints on the triangles and quadrilaterals; some forbidden configurations; and how, under suitable constraints, to generate the points from the lines alone. The mathematical theory is then applied to aesthetics, using set cographs to describe the experience of a person enjoying a picture (Mu Qi), poem (Dickinson), play (Shakespeare), …

Evolution Of Island, Dominique Kongsli

The STEAM Journal

Evolution of Island emerged from the depths of an ocean of blue paint. My process involves observation of nature: I remember scuba diving in Thailand in the Andaman Sea and having a spiritual experience underwater while observing Christmas-tree worms pop in and out of the coral.

Three Creativity-Fostering Projects Implemented In A Statistics Class, Margaret Adams

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Undergraduates in an introductory statistics class at a rural Southeastern college were assigned three creativity-fostering projects: statistics vocabulary crossword puzzle, word wall, and graffiti art poster. Given math anxiety, fear of failure, and lack of enthusiasm, it seemed imperative to spark interest and involvement. Rhodes 4P’s model (1961) served as the framework for this intrinsic case study involving 62 students. Independent thinking and research, peer collaboration, and use of art supplies within this model (person, press, process and product) generated remarkable learning outcomes. Grading rubrics focused on originality, quality and statistics content. Projects were classified into three qualitative categories ranging …

Outer Space: A Steam Voyage, Jancy Mcphee

The STEAM Journal

SciArt Exchange offers multi-disciplinary art contests, artwork events, consulting, training and community resources to support science and technology education, collaboration, and innovation. Using a science-integrated- with-art approach, SciArt Exchange supports, prepares, and convenes people of all ages, backgrounds and affiliations to discuss and potentially solve space, science, and technology challenges. This field note shares the Humans in Space Art Program and the Project Mars Competition.

Getting Girls In Stem & The Dangers Of Forgetting That Science Is Art - Someone Made It Up, Heidi Therese Dangelmaier, Camilla Hermann

The STEAM Journal

Encouraging girls to participate in STEM is a hot topic that has captured the concern of the world’s academic, business and scientific communities. The intention is noble, however the strategies being deployed are reinforcing the very bias society seeks to eliminate. If we wish to advance our evolutionary journey as a species, a shift from “feeling sorry for disadvantaged girls” to “fearing STEM without girls’ reformation” is imperative. This piece discusses the rise to an initiative to redesign culture: Girlapproved.

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.

Mathematics In The Mind's Eye: Michael Schultheis Paints Poetic And Conceptual Geometries, Patricia Grieve Watkinson

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Michael Schultheis is an established artist and a formally-educated mathematician. In his practice the two disciplines are inextricably linked. His large-scale lyrical paintings at first glance seem to focus on the effects of light and atmospheres, representing cloudscapes or waterscapes in resonant color. Yet moving through these mists are decidedly mathematical references --- drawn geometric shapes and hand-written equations. These are employed by Schultheis to represent the physical world or to express feelings (or both). For example, he may examine the structure of a pine cone or reflect on human relationships or do both at the same time. The resulting …

The Wonder Of A Child, Shraddha Chaplot

The STEAM Journal

A personal piece on the wonder of childhood and the continuation of curiosity into adulthood.

Jaguar Sun, Anya Nadal

The STEAM Journal

Cymatics, is derived from a Greek word, meaning "wave", is a subset of modal vibrational phenomena. The term was coined by Hans Jenny, a Swiss follower of the philosophical school known as anthroposophy. This is a visual representation of the frequency field. I created this piece from acrylic on canvas based on the subtle energies I can see and feel.

Kaleidoscopes, Chessboards, And Symmetry, Tricia M. Brown

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This paper describes the n-queens problem on an n by n chessboard. We discuss the possible symmetries of n-queens solutions and show how solutions to this classical chess question can be used to create examples of colorful artwork.

L.A. River Project, Erin Payne

The STEAM Journal

A field note that reflected the artists' experience of the city and the making of art through an activity at the L.A. River.

Turbulence, Climate And Supercomputers, Georgios Matheou

The STEAM Journal

Turbulence is often referred to as the last mystery of classical physics. Although turbulence is ubiquitous and prominent in our daily lives – from the mixing of milk in a cup of coffee to the perpetual motion of the atmosphere and the resulting weather variation – our understanding of this complex phenomenon is comparatively very limited (e.g., Davidson et al., 2011).

Creating 'Reflection And Refraction', Tara Prescott

The STEAM Journal

This essay offers personal narrative about the creation of Reflecting and Refracting, a collage artwork integrating literary and scientific texts regarding light. Reflecting and Refracting was made specifically for the STEAM journal’s first issue and elements were incorporated into the issue’s collaborative cover image, Equations of Light. The current essay, however, is the first time the original artwork is being published in its entirety.

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 …

Big Horned, Juniper Harrower

The STEAM Journal

Tinta y tinto (Spanish for black ink and red wine)
Through a process of oxidation, reduction, and light manipulation, Juniper stains and colors paper with red wine and a rich black pigment made of the wild harvested mushroom Coprinopsis atramentaria.

A Look Into The Industry Of Video Games Past, Present, And Yet To Come, Chad Hadzinsky

CMC Senior Theses

Since its inception, the video game industry has been both a new medium for art and innovation as well as a major driving force in the advancements of many technologies. The often overlooked video game industry has turned from a hobby to a multi-billion dollar industry in its short, forty year life. People of all ages and genders across the world are playing video games at a higher clip than ever before. With so many new gamers and emerging technologies, it is an exciting time for the industry. The landscape is constantly changing and successful business models of the past …

Connecting The Contradictory With Science Art And The Aid Of A Caption, Carel P. Brest Van Kempen, Darryl Wheye

The STEAM Journal

When the disciplines of science and art intertwine to reveal a truth then words and images are suited to telling different parts, and reveal the whole story most effectively when working in tandem. Decoding the underlying science within a work of art through a caption does not diminish its value as art, but when we fail to decode the science we miss entry into a narrative.

Broad Vision: The Art & Science Of Looking, Heather Barnett, John R. A. Smith

The STEAM Journal

Undergraduate students and academic staff from diverse disciplines in the arts and sciences investigated questions of mediated vision through a year-long interdisciplinary research project at the University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom. The Broad Vision project explored the perception and interpretation of microscopic worlds, and investigated the benefits and challenges of working across disciplinary divides in a university setting. This article describes the three-phase model for interdisciplinary learning and research developed through the project, providing a valuable case study for inquiry based art/science education.

Bottled Sky, Ioannis Michalou(Di)S

The STEAM Journal

Cloud-hunter Ioannis ΜICHALOU(di)S, lies in wait of air streams, grapping pieces of sky, shaping them, molding them, and baptizing them as ‘aerosculptures’. MICHALOU(di)S is the first visual artist worldwide to use art and science in a unique way. His latest Art-Science achievement is ‘Bottled Sky’. He states:

“In October 2001, while I was trying to create a cubic nephele, in the Visual Arts Research Centre of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), I came upon the silica aerogel for the first time... It is a space technology material, intangible -consisting of 99.9% air and 0.1% glass - which has been recently …

A Distributed Intelligence Approach To Multidisciplinarity: Encouraging Divergent Thinking In Complex Science Issues In Society., Jarod Kawasaki, Dai Toyofuku

The STEAM Journal

The scientific issues that face society today are increasingly complex, open-ended and tentative (Sadler, 2004). Finding solutions to these issues, not only requires an understanding of the science, but also, concurrently dealing with political, social, and economic dimensions that exist (Hodson, 2003). For example, 40 years after the first congressional hearing on climate change held by Al Gore in 1976, the 2012 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report states that climate change is still getting worse, despite efforts by governments, businesses, social actors such as Non-Government Organizations, and scientists. With the top minds in the world, across all disciplines, …

A Letter To The Steam Journal Readers, Deborah Freund

The STEAM Journal

A letter to the readers from the President of Claremont Graduate University, President Deborah Freund, welcoming the inaugural issue of 'The STEAM Journal'.

Equations Of Light - The Steam Journal Inaugural Issue, The Cover Art, Chris Brownell

The STEAM Journal

This is the background to some of the work, art and thinking that went into the cover art for the inaugural issue.