2016 Bridges Conference

Jesse Atkinson, Charles Knight, Phillip Weaver

Artists

Jesse Atkinson, Charles Knight, Phillip Weaver

Atkinson--Mathematics and Humanities Major Undergraduate, Northern New Mexico College; Knight, Adjunct Professor, Mathematics and Humanities, Northern New Mexico College; Phillip Weaver, Math Instructor and Master Woodworker, University of New Mexico

Atkinson and Knight, Northern New Mexico College; Weaver, University of New Mexico

Atkinson and Knight; El Rito, New Mexico, USA; Weaver, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

jesse_l_atkinson@nnmc.edu

Statement

All three artists are all interested in graphs of mathematical proofs, especially 3-D graphs, which can represent such proofs in a beautiful, unique, and visually exciting manner. As networks, these 3-D graphs have possible isomorphic relations to mammalian brain neural networks. Such relations are part of the on-going investigations of these artists.

Artworks

Image for entry 'The Proof, the Whole Proof, and Nothing but the Proof'

The Proof, the Whole Proof, and Nothing but the Proof

83 x 43 x 6 cm

Exotic mountain myrtle wood and pine, with polished brass connectors

2016

Additional info

3-D rooted tree dependency graph of the proof of the Pythagorean Theorem (I.47), following Euclid's proof in Book 1, Elements. Each node or vertex (wooden ball) is a proposition, common notion, postuate, or definition, and each edge (a 1/8" brass rod) is a deductive edge, except for those connecting definitions to a proposition. All propositions needed to prove I.47 are themselves proven in this structure, some 31 propositions in all. If any proposition appears more than once, then it has its own node, but its proof is not repeated. The larger wooden balls are of mountain myrtle; myrtle leaves were used to crown victors in war and games, along with olive lives. The smaller wooden balls are of pine.