At this year’s MathsJam UK Gathering, I had the pleasure of running one of the Saturday Night Tables – a chance to invite attendees at the Gathering to drop by and play with something. Together with fellow Manchester MathsJam regular Andrew Taylor, I ran a table of Mathematical Drawing Hacks – ways to make drawing complex mathematical objects and shapes easier.
We’ve had a bit of a break over the holidays, but mathematical news stops for no mince pie. From new prime numbers to mathematical doodling challenges, here’s a round-up of some of the facts/stories that we’ve seen while trying not to do any work.
This month, we’re celebrating all things Emmy Noether, using the hashtag #Noethember to share daily sketches and drawings illustrating facts about Noether’s life. Since we’re halfway through the month, here’s a round-up of some of the hashtag action so far.
The month of October is known to illustrators and doodlers on Twitter by a different name: #inktober, started in 2009 by illustrator Jake Parker. The challenge is to draw at least one thing each day in October, using ink, and post it on Twitter. 31 days, 31 drawings, and a given theme for a doodle each day. It’s a way to motivate and encourage artistic output, which can be especially helpful if you’re in a bit of a slump creatively, but also a chance to share some nice drawings and have a bit of fun.
Mathematician, blogger and illustrator Constanza Rojas-Molina has had an even better idea, and we’re helping her organise #Noethember. It’s the same idea – 30 days, 30 drawings, but this time each day the theme is a fact or story about the life and work of mathematician Emmy Noether.
We’re pronouncing it ‘nert-ember’, since Noether (Nöther) is pronounced with a hard T.
Katie’s done another video! This time it’s a neat method for constructing an egg-shape, using arcs of circles.
Bonus challenge: See if you can count how many times Katie accidentally says ‘compass’ instead of ‘pair of compasses’ during the video.