Mathematical tourism

Euler on Barranc de Biniaraix

2008-10-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

The year 2007, celebrating the year Euler, the Mathematical Society of the Balearic Islands made the 1707th step from Ravine Biniaraix a stone with Euler's Identity.

(Information and photos donated by the Society of Mathematics of the Balearic Islands SBM-XEIX)

Louvre Pyramid

2008-10-11T09:38:00.001-07:00

It is a large glass and metal pyramid, surrounded by three smaller ones, in the courtyard of the Musée du Louvre. For a square base with side 2, the altitude is √φ.

Arago Medallions

2008-10-11T09:37:00.001-07:00

The Paris Meridian Line lost out to Greenwich as the Prime or Zero Meridian, the datum for all measurements of longitude. It was established in 1667 and revised/extended several times, most famously by François Arago. To commemorate Arago an 'invisible monument' was created by Dutch artist, Jan Dibbets, in 1994/95. Ostensibly it consists of 135 bronze medallions.

Mathematical Bridge

2008-10-11T09:36:00.001-07:00

A wooden bridge across the River Cam, between two parts of Queens' College, Cambridge.

Church on Bled Island

2008-10-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

There are 99 stairs to Bled Island and there is a legend that a groom needs to carry his bride all the way up and they will have a happy in good solid marriage.

Geometric Center of Slovenia

2008-10-11T09:34:00.001-07:00

An enlarged copy of the Vače Situla, a figuratively decorated bronze ceremonial vessel found here, close by is also a monument that marks the geometric center of Slovenia

Tomb of Archimedes

2008-10-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

The so-called Tomb of Arquimedes was discovered by Cicero in a visit to Syracuse at the island of Sicily. He recognized the tomb because it had an inscription of a sphere inscribed in a cylinder. In the Necropolis of Grotticelli, but known to be of Roman origin dating at least two centuries after the death of Archimedes.

Archenhold Observatory

2008-10-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

A bronze statue of Archimedes at the Archenhold Observatory in Berlin.

Meridian in Sa Dragonera

2008-10-08T15:33:00.001-07:00

Paris meridian line that has been placed in the Natural Park of the island of Sa Dragonera (West of Mallorca) to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the François Arago's work of triangulation between Mallorca, Eivissa i Formentera.

(Information and photos donated by the Society of Mathematics of the Balearic Islands SBM-XEIX)

Lielvardes belt

2008-10-08T15:09:00.000-07:00

The belt of Lielvarde is a woven ornamental belt with 22 ancient symbols that has become a symbol of latvian national identity. According to some experts, the pattern of the belt contains the code of the universe. It has some connection with another cultures: India, Tibet and Mexico with the Inca civilization.

Melencolia I engraving

2008-10-08T15:06:00.000-07:00

Bibliothèque nationale de France: Melencolia I is an engraving by the German Renaissance master Albrecht Dürer where mathematical knowledge is referenced by the use of the symbols: compass, geometrical solid, magic square, scale, hourglass.

Atomium

2008-10-08T15:05:00.000-07:00

The Atomium is a monument built for Expo '58, the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. Designed by André Waterkeyn, it is 102-metres (335 ft) tall, with nine steel spheres connected so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.

Himmeli

2008-10-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

Sculpture with a special shape derived from the basic module of this ornament.

Magic square of the Sagrada Família church

2008-10-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

The Passion façade of the Sagrada Família church in Barcelona, designed by sculptor Josep Subirachs, features a 4×4 magic square.

Scottish Café

2008-07-08T03:33:00.000-07:00

The Scottish Café was the café in Lwów (now Lviv) where, in the 1930s and 1940s, Polish mathematicians from the Lwów School of Mathematics met and spent their afternoons discussing mathematical problems. Stanislaw Ulam recounts that the tables of the café had marble tops, so they could write in pencil, directly on the table, during their discussions. To avoid the results being lost, and after becoming annoyed with their writing directly on the table tops, Stefan Banach's wife provided the mathematicians with a large notebook, which was used for writing the problems and answers and eventually became known as the Scottish Book.

Pi Room

2008-07-08T03:31:00.001-07:00

The Palais de la Découverte was founded in 1937 with the intention of making people aware of the scientific method. Visitors are invited to experiment and understand the basic laws of physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, medicine, and information technology. For math friends, the Pi Room: the first 704 decimals of Pi number.

Chichén Itza

2008-07-08T03:29:00.000-07:00

Dominating the center of Chichén Itza is the Temple of Kukulkan (the Maya name for Quetzalcoatl), often referred to as "El Castillo" (the castle). This step pyramid has a ground plan of square terraces with stairways up each of the 4 sides to the temple on top. On the Spring and Fall equinox, at the rising and setting of the sun, the corner of the structure casts a shadow in the shape of a plumed serpent - Kukulcan, or Quetzalcoatl - along the side of the North staircase. On these two days, the shadows from the corner tiers slither down the northern side of the pyramid with the sun's movement. The pyramid has 91 steps each in 4 faces. The top of the pyramid has 1 step so that the total of the steps are 91x4+1=365 which are equal to the days in a year.

Bletchley Park

2008-07-08T03:26:00.000-07:00

Bletchley Park, also known as Station X, was the location of the United Kingdom's main codebreaking establishment. Codes and ciphers of several Axis countries were deciphered there, most famously the German Enigma during WWII.