A Museum Puts Math on Display

A Manhattan museum for math

Join Our Community of Science Lovers!

Glen Whitney, a mathematician and former hedge fund manager, was disappointed when Long Island's Goudreau Museum, a small space devoted to math, closed a few years ago. His response: think much bigger. In December his Museum of Mathematics is scheduled to open near Manhattan's Flatiron District.

“From the moment you walk in, you will be surrounded by math, whether you know it or not,” Whitney says. The museum is designed to be fun, but it also has a serious purpose. Cindy Lawrence, the museum's associate director, says the U.S. is not producing enough mathematically competent workers. That can be a national security concern because the National Security Agency is the country's leading employer of mathematicians and relies on them to analyze intelligence data. Part of the museum's mission, Lawrence says, is to educate kids about the range of mathematical careers available.

The museum will feature a wide range of interactive exhibits, from a square-wheeled tricycle that visitors can ride smoothly on a bumpy surface to a video camera that will allow users to “become” fractals. In the “Hyper Hyperboloid,” a visitor can sit inside a mathematical surface and transform it with the twist of a dial.

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

Whitney and Lawrence hope that the museum will appeal to people across the spectrum of mathematical knowledge. As visitors enter the building, they select their mathematical comfort level on a computer, which encodes their ticket. Computers at exhibits will then display the appropriate explanation. Those who want to learn more can manually scroll through all the text.

The museum will also help support teachers. Its Rosenthal Prize for math teachers in grades four through 12 offers a cash prize and makes the winner's instructional materials available for others to use.

COMMENT ATScientificAmerican.com/dec2012

It’s Time to Stand Up for Science

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.

I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.

If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.

In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.

There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.

Thank you,

David M. Ewalt, Editor in Chief, Scientific American