I am a mathematician, and I would like to stand on your roof.’ That is how Ron Eglash greeted many African families he met while researching the fractal patterns he’d noticed in villages across the continent.
Watch this TED Video by Ron Eglash, an ethno-mathematician, who studies the way math and cultures intersect. He has shown that many aspects of African design — in architecture, art, even hair braiding — are based on perfect fractal patterns.
I am mathematics communicator at the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach. I studied mathematics and computer science and did my PhD in mathematics in machine learning at the University of Innsbruck and the University of Buenos Aires. Since 2007, I am coordinating the project IMAGINARY. I also curated the MiMa, museum for minerals and mathematics in Oberwolfach, I am member of the Raising Public Awareness Commitee of the European Mathematical Society. And (at least equally important), I like travelling, culture, adventure, human beings.
[…] Karen Thompson also discussed the concept of hair fractals, which are infinite repeating patterns seen in architecture, clothing patterns, braids, and hair in […]
[…] Karen Thompson also discussed the concept of hair fractals, which are infinite repeating patterns seen in architecture, clothing patterns, braids, and hair in […]