Monday, December 3, 2007

Mathematical crochet

I'm itching to go see the Hyperbolic Crochet Reef Project, currently showing in Chicago until December 16. According to the Chicago Reader, it's a crocheted model of the Great Barrier Reef that doubles as a model of hyperbolic space.


Doesn't it just look so cool?! I'm working on an as-yet undisclosed crocheting project (Christmas is not too far away, you know) that I think will be very cool but nothing even remotely approaching this level of creativity.

Here's an interview with Daina Taimina, a mathematician who invented hyperbolic crochet as a way of illustrating certain mathematical concepts. Like this hyperbolic pseudosphere:


Here's how Taimina describes a hyperbolic space: "The easiest way of understanding it is that it's the geometric opposite of a sphere. On a sphere, the surface curves in on itself and is closed. But on a hyperbolic plane, the surface is space that curves away from itself at every point."

I love it when art meets science.

5 comments:

Barrie said...

It looks very cool. You write and you crochet? Impressive! (I popped over from Tricia's blog.)

Sara Latta said...

Hi, barrie, glad to have a visitor from Tricia's blog!

You needn't be too impressed. My crocheting skills are limited, to say the least. The most complicated things I've made have been bunny slippers for one of my daughters and iPod cases. And I have to have very detailed instructions.

Anonymous said...

I bet they wouldn't have to drag you there in chains. I wonder if they found any "purls" on that reef?

Sorry, I just couldn't resist needling you.

Sara Latta said...

Yuk, yuk. Set the phasers on pun!

Anonymous said...

Touche'!