Viewing NYC Articles Categorized Under Math

There's a New Williamsburg Mural Painted by Local High School Students Representing Pi

2017-05-27T15:30:00-04:00

Williamsburg's newest street art is a special mural designed by local artist Ellie Balk and painted with the high school students at The Green School.

Artist, Ellie Balk, and a group of high school students from the Green School are currently painting a mural on the side of the T-Mobile building at 725 Grand Street (corner of Grand and Graham Ave) in East Williamsburg. Ellie has painted many murals with the theme of Pi in East Williamsburg and this mural will be the 6th mural of the Pi Series. The colors in the mural were inspired by colors in Senegal, Africa where Ellie studied art for some time.

Check out the new mural in person at 725 Grand St, Brooklyn, NY 11211.

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[WATCH] In-Depth Mathematical Explanation on Why We New Yorkers Fold Our Pizza

2017-03-23T14:30:00-04:00

Why do New Yorkers fold pizza the way we do? Intuitively, we know why. It's so the toppings and cheese doesn't fall off our of thin slices. But can explain the math as to why that is? Mathematical video site Numberphile and host/astronomer/author/teacher Cliff Stoll created this great in-depth explanation on why we fold pizza the way we do.

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Mathematician Analyzes All of Manhattan's Named Squares to Find the Most True to Its Name

2016-06-04T10:00:32-04:00

London comedian and mathematician Matt Parker recently made this interesting video in which he analyzes each of the public parks and plazas that are named "Square" in Midtown and Lower Manhattan, with the purpose of finding which is the most mathematically correct "Square" shape.

Can you believe that many so-called "squares" in New York are actually triangles? I hunt down the square most deserving of its name.

Here's what he found:

Times Square 40.7605364,-73.9881165 Triangle
Greeley Square 40.7475166,-73.9902623 Triangle
Madison Square 40.7417129,-73.9866145 Rectangle
Union Square 40.7362828,-73.9934595 Rectangle
Stuyvesant Square 40.7334896,-73.9846672 Square
Washington Square 40.730503,-73.9959379 Rectangle
Cooper Square 40.7274296,-73.9929123 Trapezium
Tompkins Square 40.7268115,-73.9832778 Square
Peretz Square 40.7226714,-73.9878349 Triangle
Foley Square 40.7152103,-74.001972 A thing?
Straus Square 40.7147475,-73.9910052 Triangle
Kimlau Square 40.7140132,-73.9990492 Rectangle
Coleman Square 40.712846,-73.9964231 Trapezium
Hanover Square 40.7047231,-74.0104991 Triangle

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Manhattan's Museum of Math Has a Track for Tricycles With Square Wheels

2016-04-01T10:48:01-04:00

The National Museum of Mathematics in NoMad on 26th Street is a hands-on science and math museum that teaches kids and adults about the cooler side of numbers and mathematics.

One of the museum's more popular interactive exhibits is this special track which allows tricycles with square wheels to ride smoothly. See how it all works in this short video from Insider.

This tricycle has square wheels, but it works because of MATH.

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Mathematician Determines a Linear Equation that Represents Broadway Against Manhattan's Rectilinear Grid

2015-11-02T16:33:31-05:00

London comedian and mathematician Matt Parker recently visited the City and made this interesting video which plotted Broadway against our street grid to determine a linear equation for the street.

While in New York City I walked along Broadway with graph paper and plotted where it crosses the street and avenues. Most of Manhattan is horizontal streets and vertical avenues, but the road Broadway cuts across on an angle. Using the grid system of roads in NYC I could calculate the liner equation of Broadway. I had some fun with places like Union Square and the Flatiron Building along the way.

Turns out the equation for Broadway is STREET = 9.975 × AVENUE - 26.5 with a surprisingly accurate linear approximation.

If you can look past the Englishman's incorrect pronunciation of "Houston Street" and other tourist faux pas, it's a pretty funny video.

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Hypnotic 3D Map Shows New York City as Moving Bits of Light

2015-09-23T16:29:39-04:00

(Union Square)

Check out this new 3D Interactive Map from Mapzen engineer Patricio Gonzalez Vivo, based on the work of Ryoji Ikeda, which represents the various surfaces in the city with blocks of moving light.

Ryoji Ikeda is a Japanese artist and electronic musician known for his mathematical, almost monochromatic explorations of light and patterns. […] Patricio Gonzalez Vivo, a graphic engineer at Mapzen, has channeled Ikeda to create a spinning, 3-D view of the city torn from a universe of pure data. Skyscrapers have become flashing, scrolling monoliths, and traffic white veins of rushing rectangles. All else is void, pure blackness.

You can play with the map here, but you may get better results if you resize your browser window to a smaller rectangle first.

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Chef Daniel Burns on Mathematical Precision in the Culinary Arts

2015-06-23T12:27:01-04:00

Chef Daniel Burns of Luksus in Greenpoint serves up Michelin-starred Scandinavian-influenced New American cuisine from a snug space at the rear of his also-excellent Tørst bar.

In this video from The Art of Plating, learn how the master chef applies mathematics to his plates in order to create a stunning display.

Cheerful and personable, chef Daniel Burns is one of the most down-to-earth people who brings warmth into any room. Watch as this Noma alumni, who initially pursued studies in mathematics, takes his innate number-centric precision and translates it into beautifully crafted dishes at his own Michelin starred restaurant, Luksus, NYC

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