Math Movement

In May, I was contacted by Ari Daniel regarding a series of radio pieces funded under the STEM Story Project to appear on the Public Radio Exchange. By August, Ari had contacted us and arranged meeting us at the MoMath MOVES conference in New York City. At the time, we had just returned from performing […]

Yesterday, which would have have been Martin Gardner’s 98th birthday, I posted the article Tied in a Mathematical Knot to honor Gardner’s birthday and the Celebration of Mind events that are and will occur throughout the world. Ours at Davidson will be next month. The article was presented in the context of playing with rope […]

In my mime and math show, I usually teach simple mime illusions like touching an invisible wall and catching a mime ball. The illusions are then connected to mathematical concepts. How? Watch the following video and follow along, if you will. For children, this exercise touches on useful concepts of arithmetic and estimation. Further, they explore […]

Recently, I have been asked a number of times for a list of talks that I present on mathematics. While the list will grow, as I’m even creating a new talk next week for a conference on integrating social issues into the curriculum, this can give a reader a sense of topics I present. For […]

Introduction This activity that I created with my wife, Tanya Chartier, is intended for classroom use. I have used it after performing my Mime-matics mime show that introduces mathematical ideas in classrooms. In particular, college students from Davidson College have traveled with me and led the activity following the presentation. In each case, it has […]

Mime visualizes an invisible world. Generally, we expect such silent performers to press against an invisible wall or be lifted by an imaginary balloon. While such ideas can be adapted to teach mathematical ideas, the silence of a mime can also welcome an audience to make connections of their own. The whimsy of a clown can warmly welcome […]

Mime, at least in the tradition of the great Marcel Marceau, is inherently artistic and precise in its physical articulation. Does such a limited overview of mime already set it apart from the logical field of mathematics? I don’t believe so. Mathematicians can be silenced by an elegant proof, which we may describe as beautiful. […]

Today, Celebration of Mind events are being held worldwide to mark what would have been Martin Gardner’s 96th birthday, including an event at Davidson College. Gardner’s wide-reaching career spanned 80 years. He loved puzzles, illusions, and paradoxes. It’s been said that he brought “more mathematics, to more millions, than anyone else,” and also that he […]

Today, a new header image (the old was simply the default image) appeared on this blog. It seems appropriate to explain the images as the collage is meant to represent the various ways I move mathematically. Let’s start at the left and move our way to the right. Almost hidden in the lower left and […]