Monday, April 20, 2009

reef

I just watched science writer Margaret Wertheim's great TED talk about the project she and her sister are doing recreating coral reefs in crochet. (I am a TED talk addict!) Conceived as a way to speak about the effect of global warming on coral reefs, especially in her native Australia, the project reaches across the fields of "mathematics, marine biology, feminine handy craft, and environmental activism."



She and her sister chose crochet because it was the only way to model the complex hyperbolic geometry of coral.
The talk is really great, ranges from non-euclidian mathematics to the importance of "plastic modes of play" and paying attention to the things around you.  
(btw, I know nothing about hyperbolic geometry or euclidian mathematics beyond what I learned from watching this talk.)


I knew there was a reason I wanted to learn how to crochet!  
Hope you like it as much as I did.   
(watch it here, if the embed doesn't work)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

that's a neat project. looks tedious!

chiara said...

nice! I like them. Can you knit them?

Courtney said...

Crap, my computer battery is about to die, but I would like to watch this because their work sounds interesting and looks beautiful!

Unknown said...

Oh cool - what a great way to combine those incredibly varied topics and skills!

seesaw designs said...

pretty amazing...