In the first half of the year we turn our attention to the relationship between mathematics and art. We look at the discovery of the rules of perspective and the mathematics behind them.
This is followed by a lecture on beauty and symmetry in art. Are “beautiful” shapes mathematically different from “ugly” shapes?
The third lecture is on proportion and ratio in nature, art, design and architecture.
The second half of the year focuses on beautiful mathematical curves.
There are lectures on conic sections (parabolas, ellipses and hyperbolas), the cycloid and the associated tautochrone and brachistochrone problem, and finally the sine curve, discussing some of their many properties and applications.