Customer Reviews

Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a marvelous book linking forms from the natural world to the human mind, to symbol-making, to art and to abstract mathematical concepts. It's an entertaining and enlightening read. It starts with an overview of geometry, then proceeds to the more specialized subject of hyperbolic geometry -- a mathematical concept mathematicians did not believe could exist in concrete form. Taimina's stunning crochet models prove them wrong. She has a wonderful chapter on geometric patterns in ancient and folk arts, showing examples from the Maori, Incas, and Pacific Islanders. She discusses how geometric symbols were used in human societies to convey cosmological knowledge, and how these symbols circulated via art. She continues with a grand tour through the development of geometrical concepts from building and construction, navigation and stargazing, and motion and machines. There are beautiful photos of many ancient objects - over 300 photos in the book altogether. It all amounts to an eye-opening journey connecting the history of ideas to their natural sources and their practical applications in life. It's no wonder her beautiful scupltures sit so tranquilly in the natural landscape.

My mother has been crocheting since I was an infant and at one point, I was able to crochet simple things like potholders. It is a simple process as long as you are going straight across to make a rectangle, the hard part is when you have to turn corners and make rounded structures. I never mastered that aspect of crocheting, it requires a degree of three-dimensional foresight that was beyond my mechanical talents.
With this as my background, I was even more impressed by the talents of the author as she uses crocheted fabrics to represent the negative curvature of hyperbolic surfaces. The book opens with a search for hyperbolic surfaces down through history as well as in nature. Although the mathematics of the non-Euclidean hyperbolic surface is of relatively recent origin, such surfaces are found in nature. The photos on page 18 demonstrate their appearance in coral, holly leaves, flower blossoms and nudibranchs.
I must confess that I have seen crocheted items similar to the hyperbolic, catenoid and helicoid surfaces demonstrated in this book at craft shows and flea markets but never made the connection that they were in fact such surfaces. It was a real eye-opener to see them illustrated and Taimina explains the algorithmic ratios behind their creation.
Along with many others, I have been a proponent of the statement, "Mathematics is everywhere." While I firmly believe it, until I read this book I had no idea how all encompassing that statement really is. This is a fun book to read and even people that have never crocheted can appreciate the tactics and results. Some of them are truly works of art.

Of course there's no patterns.

You do not have to be a math genius to use and appreciate this book (I certainly am not). However, you do need to realize this is a book as much about math as crochet, so an understanding of geometry and experience with shaping crochet without a pattern are a requirement - not advanced skills, but a bit beyond basic math and technical crochet skills.

The reason there are no patterns is because patterns do the math for you, and this book's main point IS the math so patterns defeat the purpose.

Gives vision to the ART of Crochet. Why the rythmic crocheted spaces take shape to remind you of nature. No, no patterns, not one more double crochet - you are invited to use your creativity. Add this crochet insight into your current skill set and develop the 3 dimensional view in your work. On the other hand, a site you may wish to visit before purchasing to better understand the use of the book to you, if at all, is http://www.theiff.org/exhibits/iff-e13.html. If you live in Arizona and are open to your natural creative bent visit the exhibit in Scottsdale http://www.theiff.org/exhibits/iff-e22.html etc in UK and NYC. The book points the reader to the physical representation crochet allows with the 3 dimensional representations.

I like crochet and mathematics. The book looked promising, but (of course, there is always a 'but'):
The math was sometimes explained as if the readers were 8 year old kids who never heard of Pythagoras, and suddenly it goes off with not much explanation about more complicated issues. #That's why I call it 'uneven'#
There wasn't enough crochet, or al least it's too short on crocheting ideas.

Still, it was an interesting addition to some not too often discussed areas.

I really enjoyed this book. I am an astrophysicist and a crocheter. There aren't actually any crochet patterns, but this book tells you how to crochet a representation of a hyperbolic plane, and then shows you how to use it to visualize the properties of hyperbolic planes. I now have more intuition about negatively curved space. Great fun, and beautiful pictures. So far I've only made a demo, but I hope to make some flowers for my desk.

I first heard about this book while I was crocheting pieces for the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef currently on display in the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History. I have been learning to become a docent for this particular exhibit and learned, through the training, that this book would probably be discussed.

I recently received it and have been reading through it. I'm a crocheter, not a mathematician, (SMILE), so some of the geometry concepts are a challenge to understand but this book makes it fun to learn!

This book helped me better understand the science - geometry - behind the crochet form hyperbolic planes.

It is a step-by-step explanation, As a math semi-geek and an avid free-form crochet artist, I found it inspiring and informative.

You don't have to know how to crochet or understand geometry to appreciate the beauty of the mathematical and natural worlds. Taimina, a professor of mathematics at Cornell University, uses simple crochet forms to explain difficult concepts such as negative curvature. She places geometry in the history of art, discussing patterns and symbols used in many native cultures. She then brings those patterns and symbols into the complex math that helps in construction, navigation, and machine building - as well as the organizational structures that make up much of nature. With vivid photographs and text written for easy understanding, you'll learn how a simple fiber technique can connect kelp, Venice, soccer balls, and modern art.

Exciting, creative and scientific - what more could one want? Superlatives abound. I'm hooked and this is not a nerdy book, it's fascinating and exquisite. All stars.