Rithmomachy
Rithmomachy is a complex, Early European, mathematical board game. The literal translation is “Battle of Numbers”. It’s similar to chess, but the capture of pieces depends on the numbers on each piece. Rhythmomachy Basics provides a few more details than the Wikipedia entry.
Alice as mathematical satire
The absurdity in Alice in Wonderland is often attributed to drugs or a dark trip into the subconscious. For her PhD work, Melanie Bayley examined some of the most popular scenes from a mathematical perspective, which is summed up in Alice’s adventures in algebra. Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Caroll) was a rather conservative mathematician, who disagreed with many of the new mathematical theories emerging during the 19th century.
The madness of Wonderland, I believe, reflects Dodgson’s views on the dangers of this new symbolic algebra. Alice has moved from a rational world to a land where even numbers behave erratically.
I don’t imagine that Tim Burton’s new Alice in Wonderland will delve too deeply into mathematical theory.
3D Geometry
Scanned images of 3D geometry diagrams from Richard at Ace Jet 170. Now I just need to find a pair of glasses so I can see them properly.
H&FJ on typesetting large prime numbers
Hoefler & Frere-Jones explore typesetting the world’s largest prime number. The largest prime number has more than twelve million digits, and concluded that even one specific kern pair would save hundreds of feet.
