Mathematica:
A World of Numbers . . . and Beyond
Continues Through May 5, 2002
A classic exhibition designed by Charles and Ray Eames
Mathematica: A World
of Numbers . . . and Beyond, on view from October 6 to May 5,
2002 at the Exploratorium, is a mid-20th century, classic exhibition
designed by the world renown designers Charles and Ray Eames. Their
purpose, during the era of Sputnik, was to let the fun of math and
science out of the bag. Imagine 512 light bulbs performing multiplication
and 30,000 randomly cascading plastic balls forming a bell curve.
This sensory overload is just one small part of Mathematica: A
World of Numbers . . . and Beyond, created in 1961. Its showing
at the Exploratorium comes on the heels of the first, major posthumous
retrospective of the lifework of Charles and Ray Eames, which
toured major art museums in the year 2000. Mathematica is the centerpiece
of a larger look at both mathematics and design at the Exploratorium
during the run of the exhibition. Mathematica is included in the price
of admission to the museum.
Mathematica explores
mathematics as a tool, a science, and a work of art. Touching on the
theory, imagery and history of mathematics, it approaches mathematics
first as a language — one used daily — that touches and
affects almost every area of human work and play. Mathematics began
with the invention of numbers to count by. Its first tool was the
human body. Visitors to the exhibition move from such basic activities
as counting on their right hand to more sophisticated concepts, just
as simply constructed mechanical devices extended the human capacity
to add, subtract, multiply, divide, and measure.
For math lovers —
or better yet — for those confounded by math and science; for
those with an architectural and design perspective; and for those
with a sense of history, Mathematica is a rare opportunity
to walk through a Charles and Ray Eames designed exhibition Ð their
only one still extant. Experience the elegance and marvelous fun inherent
in the Eameses’ style of communicating the wonder of the world
around them.
Mathematica: A World
of Numbers . . . and Beyond is provided by the California Science
Center.
