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Please take a closer peek at this article as below by Alex Bellos, author of several popular maths books.
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| The Collatz conjecture. Illustration by Edmund Harriss, coloured in by Tiffany Arment. |
One of the great perks of my job - writing about maths – is that I am always learning new maths. And I learned more in my latest book than probably in any other project I have been involved in.
This statement might sound odd, since Visions of Numberland is a colouring book. Yet the aim that my co-author Edmund Harriss and I shared was more than just to serve up pretty pictures. It was to curate a gallery of beautiful images that would introduce readers to deep mathematical ideas.
It meant that we delved through dozens of fields to find images that were both stunning to look at, and interesting to think about. The concepts that inspired the images come from number theory, topology, projective geometry, four-dimensional geometry, statistical physics, combinatorics, fractals, computer science, calculus, group theory, modular forms, complex arithmetic, Lie groups, tessellations, dynamical systems and many more mathematical fields.
Your heart may be sinking – these include areas you would only ever discover at degree level or beyond. Yet we believe that, for each image, it is possible to engage with the concepts behind it. (We have accompanying text that explains the image in layman’s terms).
The book is for anyone who is intrigued by maths, not just those who enjoy colouring in.
So here goes: four images from the book, with explanations.
Alex Bellos ends his article with following:
"I hope these images give some of the flavour of the book: we hope it gives some insight into the world of mathematics, as well as providing enjoyable material for those who like to colour in."
Read more...
Additional resources
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| Visions of Numberland: A Colouring Journey Through the Mysteries of Maths |
