charles eames, 'mathematica: a world of numbers...'

the particular installation of 'mathematica: a world of numbers... and beyond' was designed by eames office in 1961.....................................................

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'mathematica: a world of numbers...'

exploratorium, san francisco
october 6, 2001 - may 5, 2002
http://www.exploratorium.edu
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california science center, los angeles
june 8, 2002 - september 2, 2002
http://www.casciencectr.org

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'mathematica' was the first major exhibition produced
by the eames office.
their purpose was to led the fun of math and science
out of the bag.

imagine 512 light bulbs performing multiplication?

and 30,000 cascading plasticballs forming a bell curve?

the office spent a year researching the exhibition,
drawing especially on the collections of butler library
at columbia university in new york city for visual materials.
it was designed for the march 1961 opening of a new
science wing at the california museum of science and
industry in los angeles.
that particular installation of mathematica was the
longest running corporate sponsored permanent
installation in the world until its close on january 31, 1998.

'mathematica: a world of numbers... and beyond'
this marvelous, elegant, and entertaining exhibition
gives a real flavor of the fun of mathematics.
from age-old paradoxes like the möbius strip to
the more modern subfield of topology.
visually rich and lauded as a classic of exhibition
design, mathematica helps dispel the pervasive
myth of math as an abstract morass of numbers.

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... the exhibition should be of interest to bright student
and not embarass the most knowledgeable ...
outlined charles eames in 1961.

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interactive displays
mathematica includes six interactive units covering the
following concepts: celestial mechanics, the moebius band,
probability, topology, minimal surfaces, projective geometry,
and multiplication.
in each of the interactive displays a visitor presses a button
to activate the demonstration.
when the button is pressed in the probability machine,
30,000 plastic balls fall through a maze of 200 steel pegs,
randomly forming the classic bell curve.
in the multiplication cube, a cube composed of 512 electric
lightbulbs illuminates the answers to multiplication problems
entered sequentially on a keyboard by the visitor.
guests also experience the concept of minimal surfaces
as a soap film membrane assumes the shape of a solid
geometric frame. on the moebius band display a red arrow
travels around the double-sided surface.
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history and image wall
the principles these exhibits demonstrate mechanically
are also explained by graphic panels with text and
illustrations. the participatory displays are enclosed by
two walls: the 'history wall' and the 'image wall'.

the history wall is a timeline that documents the
evolution of of mathematicsfrom a.d. 1100 to 1950
- a chronology in words and images of biographies of
mathematiians and the major milestones and developments
in mathematical concepts.

on the image wall, photographs and diagrams provide visual
demonstrations of mathematical principles.
suspended panels are displaying quotations by mathematicians.
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peep shows
the exhibition originally included five 'peep shows',
two minute films about mathematical concepts projected in
individual viewing devices. they were intended for a short
attention span: 2 minutes.
five films were made to accompany the mathematica exhibition.
these peep shows were taken out of the exhibition because
the technology for showing continous 8mm loop films was
not up to the wear and tear of exhibition use.
people waiting to see the films also slowed traffic moving
through the exhibition.
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house of cards
legendary card stacker bryan berg pays homage to
the eames's modular architectural tradition by building what
promises to be a mighty house of cards inside the exploratorium.
berg holds the guinness world record for crafting the tallest
house of cards, a towering 24-foot structure built, like all of
his constructions, without tape, glue, bending, or folding.
at the exploratorium, berg constructed a weight-bearing house
of cards, squat in stature but designed to support roughly four tons.
for sheer goofiness, it's a stunt the eames's would surely have
enjoyed.

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mathematica is available !
'mathematica... a world of numbers and beyond'
was organized by the california science center, los angeles
and funded in part by IBM.
the exhibition won the hearts of several generations
of teachers and students during its 36-year tenure
at the science center from 1961 to 1997.

responding to the groundswell of public interest and
support for the exhibition, the science center transformed
'mathematica: a world of numbers and beyond'
into a 2,500 square foot traveling exhibition.

in 2000 and 2001 the exhibition toured america's major
art museums.
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designboom is publishing this article, because we hope
that there will be some requests of european museums too...
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for more detailed information, you may contact
the special exhibitions coordinator,
california science center
http://www.casciencectr.org
elewis@cscmail.org

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more on ray and charles eames
charles (1907-1978) and ray (1912-1988) eames had a profound
influence on design in the latter half of the 20th century,
both in the united states and throughout the world.
taking as their motto 'the most of the best to the greatest number
of people for the least,' they are perhaps best known for the
form-fitting chairs that were produced in the 1940s and 1950s
using the mass production techniques they invented.
but they also designed and created buildings, toys, films,
multimedia presentations, exhibits and books, including more
than 50 projects for their major client, IBM, such as the IBM
pavilion at the 1964 new york world's fair.
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http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/eames/bio.html
http://www.eamesoffice.com
http://www.powersof10.com/powers/eames/station_257.html
http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9905/eames.html
http://www-1.ibm.com/ibm/history/catalog/catalogpage_0000000967.html
http://www.hermanmiller.com/CDA/design/bio/0,1273,c80-b5,00.html
http://www.vitra.com/designer/default.asp?lang=il_en

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the IBM mathematics peep shows are available on cd-rom
the media components are produced by eames demetrios,
charles's grandson, who currently heads the eames office.
http://www.eamesoffice.com/films/IBM_Peep_Shows.html

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a view into the exhibition 1961
courtesy california science center

the history wall, 1961
© 2001, lucia eames / eames office
courtesy california science center

the image wall, 1961
© 2001, lucia eames / eames office
courtesy california science center