Mathematica: A World of Numbers . . . and Beyond
October 6, 2001-May 5, 2002
A classic exhibition designed by Charles and Ray Eames

"One of the best kept secrets in science is how unpompous scientists are at their science, and the amount of honest fun that is part of it…(my goal was) to let the fun out of the bag."

—Charles Eames

Since the mid-1990’s, being a geek is in. Geeky has been the way to riches and fame. So it’s never too early (or too late) to hone your appreciation of mathematics. This may be a new millennium spin, but 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.

The mathematical concepts captured by the Eameses’ innovative design comes through in the startling demonstrations and devices on display — from the light bulbs and plastic balls that express complex concepts in math, to a soap bubble dipping device that frames square and triangular bubbles — the better to illustrate minimal surfaces. All these usually abstract mathematical concepts are made real. With Exploratorium additions, expect everything from a pool shark who shoots pool while revealing the concepts of probability to a performing mathematician who is faster than most calculators. Look for special events, demonstrations and lectures throughout the exhibition run.

You can peer into a Projective Geometry device, for example, to see changing views of different geometric forms. Tackle the concept of Minimal Surfaces by examining soap film membranes as they assume the shape of solid geometric frames. In a Celestial Mechanics gizmo, observe, as traveling one-by-one, spheres are hurled into an elliptical orbit. Witness the mathematics behind the paths that planets take as they move around the sun. Explore the mind-boggling Moebius Band: Start a red arrow on its path along the seemingly two-sided band and discover that this ribbon-like form has only one surface. Witness a straight rod that travels through a curve and learn how circular motion is transferred into linear motion. Or watch as your arms, torso and head seem to disappear as you view your reflection in a concave mirror.

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 those interested in design, Mathematica is an example of the timeless work of one of the US’s leading design teams. Mathematica was intended to enlighten the amateur mathematician without embarrassing the specialist. That standard of working successfully at both levels was critical to the Eameses as designers. 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, this exhibit 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.