for me, I have always been extremely interested in space, the universe and the stars and have always enquired about what more there is to find and what actually happens outside of the earths little bubble. Following the discovering mathematics module has enlightened me about many applications of maths that I had previously never thought about, and our discussion with Simon Reynolds (science learning manager, Dundee science center) was no exception.

Stars

I always knew that the observable universe was unfathomably big, and that the amount of stars that can be seen is around 10 to the power of 22. However seeing this number written out of the short form was truly amazing as it comes to 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, and that is only the amount of stars we can see! Using exponentiation (the power of) here is clearly extremely important as writing out a number with twenty two zeros can be a very strenuous task, so instead mathematicians looked to create exponents (the number to the right of the base) to create a shorthand for large numbers. In this case instead of Writing a 23 character number out, astronomers and mathematicians alike need only four, 10^22. This makes it easier for people to denote what they mean when writing and talking and is clearly a vital component when dealing with really really big numbers.

Distance

As most prominently portrayed in films, light-years are a  measure of distance, specifically, the distance light can travel in one year (6 trillion miles). The use of light-years here provide us with a relative understanding of how far that is and gives people a rough understanding of the sheer size of the universe. However 20th century astronomer  20th century astronomer Robert Burnham Jr created an ingenious way to portray the distance of one light-year and ultimately of expressing the distance scale of the universe, in understandable terms. He did this by relating the light-year to the astronomical unit (AU) – the Earth-sun distance. One Astronomical Unit, or AU, equals about 93 million miles (150 million km). Burnham noticed that, quite by coincidence, the number of astronomical units in one light-year and the number of inches in one mile are virtually the same. There are 63,000 astronomical units in one light-year, and 63,000 inches (160,000 cm) in one mile (1.6 km) (Mclure, 2016). This enables us to have a relative understanding of the distance between our planets in the Solar system and beyond.

Maths and astronomy are clearly closely linked together and the use of abbreviations or creating new number systems is vital in understanding and clearly expressing astronomical things. Reynolds lecture showed me that space isn’t anywhere near as confusing as first thought as he was able to give me examples that I could relate too, such as Burnhams earth-sun distance. this once again highlights the importance of having multiple perspectives and connectedness when teaching mathematics as he was able to explain to us an idea that we wouldn’t have thought of in a way that we were able to link back to what we previously knew.

Maths is everywhere, from structures and buildings to technology and science, mathematics can be seen by anyone at anytime. However, what some people fail to notice is the importance of maths within art, with sequences and ratios being used to create some of the most famous paintings and designs ever created. ad far back as Leonardo Da Vinci, art has been considered when creating beautiful masterpieces that survive generations.

Leonardo Da Vinci – The last supper

This famous depiction of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples is well regarded as one of the most famous paintings ever created, although many people do no know the importance of maths within the masterpiece. The pattern drawn over the painting is known by the term ‘Golden ratio’ and is thought to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The golden ratio is used to draw an onlookers eye to the focal point in the painting, in this case Jesus, then as the eyes look closer more details are noticed.  The golden ratio uses proportions, ratios, symmetry and balance to create an aesthetically pleasing look, and has been used in paintings and structure to create beautiful works of art.

Fractals – Fibonacci

The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers where a number is found by adding up the two numbers before it, however, this sequence can also be used to create beautiful pieces of art containing geometric shapes. The sequence starts 1,1,2,3,5,8,13 and so on, and can be used to create the ‘perfect spiral’ in geometric form, this once again draws our eyes to the centre of the work and then presents the rest of the design.  

Maths and art lends its self to Liping Ma’s idea of ‘multiple perspectives’ (Ma, 2010) and how their are multiple ways of looking at and presenting one idea. The examples of art  I have presented show the importance of looking at maths in different lights. in the example of the Fibonacci, a simple sequence created by one man has been studied to the point that people noticed an artistic implementation that could be exploited. Therefore people having differing ideas on what certain math’s is trying to explain and show us Is vital in the human exploration of mathematics as there is always different ways to express the same subject matter.