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The Bridges Conference: Mathematical Connections
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Bridges Family Day, Wednesday 9 August 2006, 10am - 5pm
at the Institute of Education and London Knowledge Lab
A day to inspire, engage and motivate; to show that Maths really can be ‘fun’, especially when art is involved too.
Bridges has always had an educational aspect and this year it included an extra event: a Family Day where Bridges participants could engage with the public. This also allowed Bridges participants to experience some approaches to mathematical engagement that have been developed in the UK.
We are pleased to have organised this event in conjunction with the Royal Institution of Great Britain [www.rigb.org], and to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Mathematics Masterclasses. The Royal Institution has been a major source of scientific discovery as well as one of scientific communication since it was founded about 200 years ago. It has been associated with such famous scientists as Humphry Davy, Michael Faraday, James Dewar and William and Lawrence Bragg, whose discoveries still impact on our daily lives. It has acted as a unique forum to inform the public about the effect of science on their daily lives, and prides itself on its reputation for public engagement. Lectures for young people have been an important activity at the Royal Institution since Michael Faraday initiated them in the 1820s. Now, over 30,000 children attend Royal Instiution events each year to take part in its Young Person's Programme. Its Christmas Lectures are famous the world over. The distinguished mathematician Professor Sir Christopher Zeeman, FRS gave the Christmas lectures in 1978 on the subject of the Mathematics of Perspective. Following on from this, he established a series of Mathematics Masterclasses which now happen regularly on Saturday mornings in nearly 50 locations throughout the UK. The morning of the Family Day will offer four short Masterclasses.
We are also pleased to acknowledge financial support for this event from the Clothworkers' Foundation and the educational grant programme of the London Mathematical Society.
Programme for the day
The morning (10am -12.30pm) consisted of two activities in parallel:
1. Mathematics Masterclasses to be held at the Institute of Education
2. A workshop Zometool to be held at the London Knowledge Lab
The afternoon (1.30pm to 5 pm) took the form of a Mathematics Activities Event (and Bridges participants lead some of these activities).
Mathematics Masterclasses
These were given by UK mathematicians who are regular contributors and organisers of the Saturday Masterclasses. (The target audience for these Masterclasses was students aged 12+)
10am to 11am
1. Professor Alan Davies on Anamorphic Art
2. Dr Colin Wright on Mathematics and Juggling
11.30 am to 12.30 pm
3. Professor Sir Christopher Zeeman on Mathematics and Perspective
4. Professor Chris Budd on Celtic and African Art
Speaker biographies
Chris Budd is Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Bath and Professor of Mathematics at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and is the author of popular mathematics books as well as publications in his research area of nonlinear mathematics. See his homepage [www.bath.ac.uk/~mascjb] for more details.
Alan Davies is Professor in the School of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics at the University of Hertfordshire. As well as coordinating Mathematical Masterclasses, he is also involved in events in local schools [www.jfk.herts.sch.uk/extra_curric/maths_day].
Colin Wright is well known in the UK for his popular mathematical talks, particularly on juggling [www.solipsys.co.uk/new/JugglingTalk.html?ColinWright]. He is President of the Liverpool Mathematical Society.
Sir Christopher Zeeman is one of the UK’s best-known mathematicians, known for his work on catastrophe theory. He founded and became director of the Mathematics Research Centre at Warwick University which has now been named after him. See www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Zeeman.html for more details.
Zometool Workshop
Held at the London Knowledge Lab, 10am-12.30pm. [More details]
Great fun and learning for kids and parents of all ages! Discover the elegant structure of space in an exciting hands-on workshop. Learn engineering principles by building the Tallest Tower or the Longest Bridge, unlock the secrets of hyperspace in Shadows from the 4th Dimension, or amaze yourself and your friends with a giant "Meta-Zome" structure. The workshop built on simple relationships between numbers, shapes and symmetry in an open, "discovery-learning" format where teamwork and questions were encouraged.
There is a short movie about the workshop on the Videos page.
Mathematics Activities Event
Held in the Jeffrey Hall at the Institute of Education, 1.30pm - 5pm. This event was for children of all ages from 5 to 95, open to all with no need to pre-book.
A series of art and mathematics activities allowed visitors to get hands on experience in creating theirown mathematical art from a range of artists and mathematicians. These included:
• Mathematical Origami with David Mitchell
• The artist Bradford Hansen-Smith from Chicago showed how to make some of his incredible paper-plate sculptures. You can see more on his website [www.wholemovement.com]
• The mathematician George Hart from the State University of New York, made some polyhedral models, but not the usual ones. You can see his work at website [www.georgehart.com]
• Paul Stang, an American teacher currently working in the Czech Republic, tested visitors' accuracy in drawing with a pair of compasses to create circle designs.
In addition to this Sibelius software [www.sibelius.com] organised demonstration sessions of two programs from their new music software:
• O-Generator
• Groovy Music
There is a short movie about the Activities event on the Videos page.