"Sacred Geometry" - what is it? That is a good question. I know only a few things, but my knowledge does not include much in the way of understanding why in any way these mathematical relationships I would like to explore are in any way "sacred." A quick wikipedia search reveals to me something in the way of an answer:
This wiki page provides this sentence which is nice and concise:
"The term Sacred Geometry has come to be known [as] an art form, generally digital geometric representations, closely aligned with mandala art."
So there's a start. A mandala is a form of art associated with Buddhism and Hinduism and is believed to represent the universe, somehow or another. There are geometric forms which religions have picked up on and seem to think are sacred, yet on the other hand, there is a line of thought which says that this geometry is representative of nature. Indeed, is there religion in nature? I think I should come back to this question of what is "sacred" later.
I know that within Sacred Geometry are some very interesting mathematical concepts.
These are:
These are:
the so called "Flower of Life":
the "Golden Ratio":
the Fibonacci sequence and the Fibonacci spiral (or Golden spiral):
and the Platonic solids:
The Platonic solids are a group of five 3-dimensional geometric shapes with specific properties, the Fibonacci sequence is created by adding the two preceding numbers to get the next and so on, the Flower of Life is created by overlapping congruent circles in a pattern, and the Golden Ratio can be found within all of these others. There are claims of close connections among all of these things, that the Flower of Life "creates" all forms of nature, that the Platonic solids are found within the Flower of Life, that plants (and dare I say all that is natural) grow according to the Fibonacci sequence and spiral. So much to explore!
With this blog, I seek to explore these connections and what they mean and hopefully come to some meaningful conclusions as to just why and how any of this math is in any way "sacred."
Again, these are really interesting ideas! I am eager to read about your findings. I also really like all the digital media you added to your blog, I am having a little difficulty on that end. How are you planning on connecting this to your classroom? Are there certain areas of math where these concepts would be more applicable than others?
ReplyDeleteConnecting to the classroom, hmmm... I think a lot of the beauty of this topic is that it is all about connections. I am most interested in fundamental undertones that can apply broadly, so the idea of "connections" is quite broad and I think a lot of what I can do is to create an interesting conversation with my students about how cool it is to find connections. And more technically, I don't know what I would say about it but I feel there has to be a lot that I can talk about in geometry with the Platonic Solids. And, by including ideas of what is sacred and/or natural about these things I think I can open up mathematics to students looking for something more than just learning the basics of operations. And, as teachers I think the more we can include topics we are interested in the more we can create interest in our students.
DeleteYou brought up some great concepts in math to explore! I really like that you bring up complex ideas in math, some would argue some of the most complex or perplexing ideas, that students will probably have at least heard the names of. I think it is so powerful to explain concepts to students they've heard of great mathematicians thinking about and understanding that they typically think they will never understand (for example, learning in high school physics what E=mc^2 is). Going off of what Ashley said, what exactly do you plan for your students and this topic? Also, where exactly are you headed? I also got a tiny bit lost towards the end. Can we explain why these mathematical concepts show up in nature like they do or is there nothing behind the curtain?
ReplyDeleteThat math is in nature is fascinating to me. I hope to be able to provide some understandings about the fundamental nature of math, by creating an understanding that with other things that are timeless and fundamental, like spirituality or nature, there are some deep aspects to it all that are revealed by understanding numbers and proportions and relationships and all other things that constitute "math".
DeleteThe pictures are great. They really help me understand what you're talking about. I would like to hear more about how these patterns relate to nature. So I guess I'm looking forward to what you'll be writing about. I've heard a lot about how these patterns previously and their supposed connection to nature, but I was never satisfied with how they are connected. It's interesting nonetheless.
ReplyDelete