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The Science of Indirect Measurement
The Science of Indirect Measurement
There is a range of views among mathematicians and philosophers as to the exact scope and
definition of mathematics.
Auguste Comte’s definition tried to explain the role of mathematics in coordinating phenomena
in all other fields.
The science of indirect measurement.
"The universe cannot be read until we have learned the language and become familiar with the
characters in which it is written. It is written in mathematical language, and the letters are triangles,
circles and other geometrical figures, without which means it is humanly impossible to comprehend a
single word. Without these, one is wandering about in a dark labyrinth.”
Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) referred to mathematics as "the Queen of the Sciences“.
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) stated that "as far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they
are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.“
Claire Voisin , a French mathematician states "There is creative drive in mathematics, it's all
about movement trying to express itself."
Intuitionism
Bertrand Russell,1901
Bertrand Russell wrote this famous tongue-in-cheek definition, describing the way all terms in
mathematics are ultimately defined by reference to undefined terms:
The subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are
saying is true.
Charles Darwin
A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn't there.
A mathematician, like a painter or poet, is a maker of patterns. If his patterns are more
permanent than theirs, it is because they are made with ideas.
Henri Poincaré
viewed mathematics as a creative art because mathematicians create beautiful concepts and
mathematicians think like artists.
Nature of Mathematics
For some, the essence of mathematics lies in its beauty and its intellectual challenge.
For others, including many scientists and engineers, the chief value of mathematics is how it
applies to their own work.
Mathematicians explore recurring ideas and of relationships between and among ideas.
2. Mathematics is a language.
Mathematics is a language using carefully defined terms and symbols. These terms and
symbols enhance our ability to communicate about science, about real –life situations and about
mathematics itself.
Mathematics is a broad and deep discipline that is continuing to grow in breadth and depth.
It provides us with strategies for organizing, analyzing, and synthesizing data, largely but not
exclusively numerical.
5. Mathematics is an art.
6. Mathematics is a tool.
Like reading and writing, math is an important component of learning and "doing" (using one's
knowledge) in each academic discipline.
Mathematics is such a useful language and tool that it is considered one of the "basics" in our
formal educational system.
As a human endeavor
Consider the math of measurement of time such as years, seasons, months, weeks, days, and so
on or the measurement of distance, and the different systems of distance measurement that
developed throughout the world.
Think about math in art, dance, and music.
Mathematics is universal.
It finds useful applications in business, industry, music, historical scholarship, politics, sports,
medicine, agriculture, engineering, and the social and natural sciences.
Reasons why the relationship between mathematics and the other fields of basic and applied science
is strong
Rectangle Pageant
The Divine Proportion, better known as the Golden Ratio, is usually denoted by the Greek
letter Phi , Φ.
Φ is defined to be the ratio obtained by dividing a line segment into two unequal pieces such
that the entire segment is to the longer piece as the longer piece is to the shorter.
The Golden Ratio
The definition of Φ leads to the following equation, if the line is divided into segments of
lengths a and b:
Setting Φ equal to the quotient a/b and manipulating this equation shows that Φ satisfies
the quadratic equation:
Applying the quadratic formula to this simple equation and taking Φ to be the positive
solution yields:
Properties of Φ
Φ is irrational
Constructing Φ
Begin with a 2 by 2 square. Connect the midpoint of one side of the square to a corner.
Rotate this line segment until it provides an extension of the side of the square which was
bisected. The result is called a Golden Rectangle. The ratio of its width to its height is Φ.
Constructing Φ
If one chops off the largest possible square from a Golden Rectangle, one gets a smaller
Golden Rectangle.
If one constructs a square on the longer side of a Golden Rectangle, one gets a larger Golden
Rectangle.
In this infinite process of chopping off squares to get smaller and smaller Golden Rectangles,
if one were to connect alternate, non-adjacent vertices of the squares, one gets a Golden
Spiral.
An isosceles triangle with two base angles of 72 degrees and an apex angle of 36 degrees is
called a Golden Triangle.
The regular pentagon with its diagonals is simply filled with golden ratios and triangles.
A Close Relative:
Ratio of Sides to Base is 1 to Φ
As with the Golden Rectangle, Golden Triangles can be cut to produce an infinite, nested set of
Golden Triangles.
Φ In Nature
There are physical reasons that Φ and all things golden frequently appear in nature.
Golden Spirals are common in many plants and a few animals, as well.
Sunflowers
Pinecones
Pineapples
Angel Fish
Tiger
Human Face I
Human Face II
Le Corbusier’s Man
For centuries, people seem to have found Φ to have a natural, nearly universal, aesthetic
appeal.
The Parthenon
Cathedral of Chartres
Michelangelo’s David
Seurat’s Bathers
Many artists have been fascinated by tilings, perhaps none more than M.C. Escher.
In addition to tilings, other mathematical connections with art include fractals, infinity and
impossible objects.
Fractals
A fractal is a natural phenomena and a mathematical set. What they have in common is a repeating
pattern that displays at every scale.
Blow-up 1
Blow-up 2
Blow-up 3
Blow-up 4
Blow-up 5
Blow-up 6
Blow-up 7
Another Quasi-Fractal
Frost Patterns
Lichtenberg figures
Fractal Broccoli
Tessellations
One can use identical tiles, each being a regular polygon: triangles, squares and hexagons.
Regular tilings beget new ones by making identical substitutions on corresponding edges.
Regular Tilings
Although, he himself, knew very little formal mathematics, he seemed fascinated by many of
the same things which traditionally interest mathematicians: tilings, geometry,impossible
objects and infinity.
M.C. Escher
A visit to the Alhambra in Granada (Spain) in 1922 made a major impression on the young
Escher.
The Alhambra
An Escher Tiling
Escher’s Butterflies
Escher’s Lizards
M.C. Escher
Escher’s Hands
Escher’s Circle Limit
Escher’s Waterfall
Escher’s Belvedere
Rhombus Tiling
Rhombus Tiling II
Although one might argue that Pacioli somewhat overstated his case when he said that
“without mathematics, there is no art,” it should, nevertheless, be quite clear that art and
mathematics are intimately intertwined.