First of all I have to say that I am extremely excited for the next posts related to what a mathematician could see/visit/explore in Amsterdam. All these posts are made with the help of and in collaboration with Donovan Carroll – a freelance mathematics teacher based in Amsterdam – who has started a great project called Math in Amsterdam. Math in Amsterdam offers many things and the one I am extremely enthusiast about is on the tours section, thus I totally recommend you check this out if you are going to visit Amsterdam.
For this post I will talk about some places which should definitely be on your list if you are a maths lover:
NEMO Science Museum is a great place to start. On the second floor there is a great geometry related exhibition: World of Shapes, where you can find out more about different geometric shapes, estimating volumes, perspective, symmetry, fractals and much more. And the most important thing: it is very children friendly and much fun. All images bellow are by Studio Louter:
The National Maritime Museum is dedicated to maritime history and contains many artifacts associated with shipping and sailing. The collection contains, among other things, paintings, scale models, weapons and world maps. You know the importance of mathematics in general in the maritime history and the museum holds many interesting instruments and other notable objects. Moreover, the glass ceiling has some remarkable symmetry created by the beams at the top.
Next on the list are all the great sculptures which offer much on mathematics – especially geometry:
- Two interlocking empty cubes at a playground:
- Star-shaped fountain (in geometry vocabulary, the shape is called a concave decagon):
- The Homomonument – a memorial which commemorates all gay men and lesbians who have been subjected to persecution because of their homosexuality. Its shape is very interesting from a mathematical point if view: together with the triangle on the canal, which has a set of steps leading to the water where floral wreaths are frequently laid, there is a triangle on land 60 cm high and a memorial triangle at street level. The three triangles—each measuring 10 meters (30 ft) on each side—together form a larger triangle connected on each side by a thin row of pink granite bricks. This larger triangle is equilateral with sides of 36 meters.
- The Spinoza Statue has a beautiful Icosahedron (20-sided polyhedron) on it. It is very interesting that the sculptor has used this geometric shape, especially because Spinoza regarded geometrical figures, not in a Platonic or static manner, but as things traced out by moving particles or lines, etc., that is, dynamically. The image below also presents Donovan Carroll from Math in Amsterdam:
Source: Wikipedia and Math in Amsterdam;
There are many other sculptures and places to see in Amsterdam. Share with me any images you have if you have visited/seen these places. If you know of any other interesting places that should be mentioned in a post like this let me know. I would love to know more about this.
Thank you for your help and support, you are the best and I appreciate everything that you do. Have a great day. You can find me on Facebook, Tumblr, Google+, Twitter, Instagram and WeHeartIt. I will try to post there as often as possible. Also my email address is: lthmathematics@gmail.com
Don’t forget that maths is everywhere! Enjoy! ~LThMath
Life Through A Mathematician's Eyes 