Mathematica: A World of Numbers... and Beyond

Multiplication machine in the exhibit.

Large mobius strip with traveling arrow.

Pseudosphere model on display.

Mathematica: A World of Numbers…and Beyond is an interactive exhibition originally at the California Museum of Science and Industry. Duplicates have since been made, and they (as well as the original) have been moved to other institutes.

History

In March, 1961 a new science wing at the California Museum of Science and Industry^[1] in Los Angeles opened. IBM had been asked by the Museum to make a contribution; IBM in turn asked the famous California designer team of Charles Eames and his wife Ray Eames to come up with a good proposal. The result was that the Eames Office was commissioned by IBM to design an interactive exhibition called Mathematica: a world of numbers...and beyond.^[2] This was the first of many exhibitions designed by the Eames Office.

This 3,000-square-foot (280 m²) exhibition stayed at the Museum until January 1998, making it the longest running of any corporate sponsored museum exhibition.[3] Furthermore, it is the only one of the dozens of exhibitions designed by the Eames Office that is still extant. This original Mathematica Exhibition is now owned by and on display at the New York Hall of Science.[4]

Duplicates

In November, 1961 a duplicate was made for Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry[5] where it stayed until late 1980. From there it moved to the Museum of Science, Boston[6] where it is currently on display.

Another version was made for the IBM Exhibit at the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair.^[3] Subsequently it was briefly on display in New York City, and then installed in the Pacific Science Center in Seattle where it stayed until 1980; then it was moved to SciTrek[7], the Science and Technology Museum of Atlanta.^[4]

A View of the Mathematica Exhibition

Visit this link [8] to see the exhibition (provided your computer has Quicktime) as it appeared in a 2000 showing at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California (hosted by [9]).

Moving your cursor around the picture allows you to have a full 360-degree view of the room. On the 50-foot-long (15 m) History Wall you can see a huge prototype of the Men of Modern Mathematics timeline poster (described below). On the opposite 50-foot (15 m) long Image Wall one sees pictures of objects, both natural and man-made, illustrating connections with mathematics.

The 1966 "Men of Modern Mathematics" Poster

In 1966, five years after the opening of the Mathematica Exhibit, IBM published a 2-by-12-foot (0.61 × 3.7 m) timeline poster---titled "Men of Modern Mathematics"--- based on the items displayed on the exhibit's History Wall, and distributed free copies to academics. The timeline covers the period from 1000 AD to approximately 1950 AD, and the poster has biographical and historical items along with numerous pictures showing progress in various areas of science, including architecture. The mathematical items in this chart were prepared by Professor Raymond Redheffer^[5] of UCLA.

Mathematics departments around the world have proudly displayed this chart on their walls.^[6]

Footnotes

1. ^ Called the California Science Center since 1998.
2. ^ The physical component of the exhibit was owned by the Museum, it was financially supported by IBM, and the Eames Office retained the artistic property rights.
3. ^ Moon Duchin mentions the Mathematica exhibit at the World's Fair on page 28 of "The Sexual Politics of Genius", University of Chicago [1].
4. ^ The Wikipedia article SciTrek says that, due to a lack of State funding, SciTrek was forced to close in 2004 and all exhibits were sold off.
5. ^ Redheffer died in 2005, and the online memorial [2] at UCLA points out that even though he was an accomplished mathematician and lecturer, he was probably most famous for his work on the IBM chart.
6. ^ see, for example, the link given in the footnote on Redheffer

External links

• CMSI Remembering the California Museum of Science & Industry