mathematical yarn

mathematical yarn
Originally uploaded by samuraisqurl.

My husband left this for me this morning on the kitchen table. I always knew yarn was brain-stimulating. Now there is a mathematical display to prove it. The caption says....
"Crochet is probably the last thing you'd expect to see in the Smithsonian's permanent collection of mathematical models. But it turns out to be a simple way to demonstrate the complex concept of hyperbolic space, which spreads infinitely in all directions. Cornell researcher Daina Taimina shows this spatial expansion by increasing the number of stitches in each successive row of her needlework."
-Elizabeth Svoboda
This was published in the June 2005 issue of Wired magazine.