Math Monday: Geometric sculpture barn raising in DC

Science
Math Monday: Geometric sculpture barn raising in DC

By George Hart for the Museum of Mathematics

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As part of the the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington DC, October 23-24, I will be leading a mathematical “sculpture barn raising.” The sculpture is made from hundreds of laser-cut metal triangles, assembled in a novel manner to form a gyroid surface.

Anyone can come to the booth of the American Mathematical Society and I’ll show you how to screw the triangular components together into this novel pattern.

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Here you can see how four of the metal triangles come together at each vertex. Small metal brackets align the parts at the correct dihedral angles. More information about this structure and the event are available here.

In addition, the Festival will include Math Tours of the DC Mall area on Oct 22, given by the Museum of Mathematics.

More:
See all of George’s Math Monday columns

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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

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