I think this is going to be a fairly varied collection of posts on stuff to do with art, science, culture, geekery and science communication. But we'll see, eh?
Back in, oh, months ago, my friend Kate said she would learn to knit if I started blogging. So I guess you have to get out those needles, Kate!
There seem to be many connections between knitting and science, especially maths – and not just that loads of mathematicians and lots of scientists knit!
Knitting patterns can be thought of as a form of algebra, their instructions an algorithm for the processing of input wool into output objects. A beret is actually a band of translational symmetry with two alternating motifs on a reducing number of units.
More directly, as that article points out, mathematical objects can be explored and illustrated through knitting. A friend and former work colleague, Madeleine (who combines a career as working at a maths institute with crafting) has a lovely Mobius strip scarf (from a Vogue knitting pattern, apparently).
But why stop there? Need some Lorenz manifolds or hyperbolic planes? Get crocheting! Or a Sierpinski triangle? Sarah-Marie Belcastro of Smith College, USA maintains a fairly comprehensive Home of Mathematical Knitting for more.
Computer scientists aren’t left out either, with cellular automata knitting being my favourite. Or why not have a scarf as an alternative to a USB stick?
Biologists can look fetching in a DNA scarf, or baby’s first dna pattern.
My favourite though, is the digestive system model, which begs the question – is there any area of science that can’t be knitted?
Last updated: Saturday, 14 Jul 2007 - 17:01 GMT
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Scott – your first post is gloriously geeky! But forget mathematical knitting – all I can think is….”mmmm…cupcakes.”
Thanks Jenny! You could always knit a cupcake!
I ended up being late for a talk about horses in circus because I was trying to find a half-decent picture of me for the profile – I figured I shouldn’t blog without a face. As you can see, I failed so went for something yummy.
Actually, though I didn’t think about it at the time, there is at least one science link between fairy cakes and science. At the opening of Genetics for Blondes (wonderfully odd, I liked it, Kate Copstick didn’t ) they hand out fairy cakes, each with 46 sugar strands on top, to represent the chromosomes. I think that’s the only use of cake in a science communication activity I know of – otherwise that could have been my next blog post sorted!
Think we can persuade Matt to provide us with fairy cakes at the next pub gathering?
Hi Scott – thanks for letting me know where this is. I’ll add you to my “blogroll” as it’s called in some places!
Cake in Science Communication? Peter Barham used to do a set piece lecture on the Physics of Black Forest Gateau during which he made several and shared them with the audience. I saw this around 1993/4 at EISF. Very nice cake it was too. I think he wrote a book called the Scientist in the Kitchen and appeared on TV doing this stuff.