When it comes to mathematics, paper isn't just for pen and pencil any more! Origami, the art and science of paper folding, can be used to explain concepts and solve problems in mathematics-and not just in the field of geometry. The origami activities collected here also relate to topics in calculus, abstract algebra, discrete mathematics, topology, and more. Using origami, learn about: - Solving Cubic Equations - Bucky Balls and PHiZZ units - Matrix models for folds - Gaussian Curvature and much more! These activities, which can enhance the classroom experience, also make great independent student projects and are perfect for math clubs or math circles. To provide readers of Project Origami with as much flexibility as possible, we have made all of the handouts in the book available online.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
For anyone who wants to enliven their class activities, this book gives wonderfully clear instructions for hands-on pager-folding activities, and specific suggestions as how to encourage students to ask questions, and to answer them, in the spirit of really ‘doing mathematics’ … I will use it next time I teach the Polya Enumeration Theorem.
—Mathematical Reviews, February 2008
Is it possible to use origami in the higher level mathematics classroom? An affirmative answer is given by Thomas Hull’s book Project Origami: Activities for Exploring Mathematics. Based on Hull’s extensive experience of combining origami and mathematics teaching over the last fifteen years, it aims to help the teacher bring origami into the mathematics classroom, at the high school, college, and university level.
—Helena Verrill, AMS Notices, May 2007
Thomas Hull … is one of the country’s foremost researchers in origami mathematics—a subject making the slow transition from the ghetto of recreational math, where Sudoku and Rubik’s Cube dwell, to the rarified air of legitimate research topic … The fun part is watching the mash-up of intellectual analysis and paper creativity … but what really drives him, he says, is understanding what’s happening underneath each figure.
—David Brooks, Nashuatelegraph.com, May 2007
In his efforts to collect everything that he could find linking origami and math (and in his own research efforts), Hull has discovered not only the obvious links between origami and geometry but also intriguing intersections of origami with other fields of mathematics, such as algebra, number theory, and combinatorics.
—Ivars Peterson, Science News, June 2006
Overall, this book is an excellent resource for mathematics educators who would like to include some hands-on experimentation in their teaching.
—Steven Frankel, MAA Reviews, July 2006
This is probably the most comprehensive study of mathematical paperfolding produced in book form to date. … Along with theorems and formulas, there are copious notes for instructors, making the book more a teachers’ manual than a recreational pursuit. Even so it will reward a study even by those wishing solely to produce decorative forms.
—John Cunliffe, ELFA and British Origami Society
This book shows you how and explains how! … The book is neatly presented and is designed to work as a sourcebook for teachers wishing to use origami in the classroom, but is easily accessible to anyone.
—Dennis Walker, British Origami Society
Thomas Hull has written a truly wonderful book … Project Origami is full of surprises and depth. Hull is passionate about his work and it shines through in this text … Concrete connections to curriculum (upper high-school levels, undergraduate levels) are made clear, highlighting the relevance and importance of this material to mathematics education. Every teacher should take a hold of this book … Hull shares the joy of doing and exploring real mathematics and provides a route that all can pursue.
—James Tanton
About the Author
Thomas Hull earned his PhD in Mathematics from the University of Rhode Island in 1997. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at Western New England University in Springfield, MA. He has invented many popular origami models, and his Five Intersecting Tetrahedra model (which is contained in this book) was named by the British Origami Society as one of the Top Ten Origami Models of All-time.
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Thomas Hull earned at B.A from Hampshire College in 1991 and a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Rhode Island in 1997. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at Western New England College in Springfield, MA. He has written two origami instructions books ("Origami, Plain and Simple" with Robert Neale and "Russian Origami" with Sergei Afonkin, both published by St. Martin's Press), edited the proceedings book "Origami^3" (A K Peters), and written "Project Origami: Activities for Exploring Mathematics" (also A K Peters). His main research area as a math professor is, not surprisingly, the connections between paper folding and mathematics, and he has invented many origami designs of his own. One of his most famous designs, the Five Intersecting Tetrahedra, was named one of the Top 10 Origami Models of All-Time by the British Origami Society.
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51 of 52 people found the following review helpful
By James Tanton
Format:Paperback
Thomas Hull has written a truly wonderful book. I say this as a teacher, as a lover of mathematics, and as a fellow who simply enjoys having fun.
Project Origami is full of surprises and depth. Written in a style that is immediate and approachable, Hull provides 22 enticing activities - all based on clever paper folding, of course - that gently leads the active(!) reader on a journey of personal discovery. What magic algorithm allows me to fold a strip of paper at the seven-sixteenth mark with ease? How can I fold an equilateral triangle from a square piece of paper? What's the largest one I can make? Trisecting an angle impossible? Not in origami world!
Looking for a meaningful way to lead students into group theory? Graph theory? Do you want a new way to approach conic sections? Do you want students to discover and *own* mathematics? (Do you want to do this for yourself?)
Hull is passionate about his work and it shines through in this text. I pick up this book and know immediately that a year's worth of math club activities, student research projects, math circle courses lie in my hands. Concrete connections to curriculum (upper high-school levels, undergraduate levels) are made clear, highlighting the relevance and importance of this material to mathematics education. Every teacher should take hold of this book.
But most important, Hull shares the joy of doing and exploring real mathematics and provides a route that all can pursue. Although this book might be marketed primarily for educators and for students, it truly is a book for *all* to enjoy.
Project Origami is full of surprises and depth. Written in a style that is immediate and approachable, Hull provides 22 enticing activities - all based on clever paper folding, of course - that gently leads the active(!) reader on a journey of personal discovery. What magic algorithm allows me to fold a strip of paper at the seven-sixteenth mark with ease? How can I fold an equilateral triangle from a square piece of paper? What's the largest one I can make? Trisecting an angle impossible? Not in origami world!
Looking for a meaningful way to lead students into group theory? Graph theory? Do you want a new way to approach conic sections? Do you want students to discover and *own* mathematics? (Do you want to do this for yourself?)
Hull is passionate about his work and it shines through in this text. I pick up this book and know immediately that a year's worth of math club activities, student research projects, math circle courses lie in my hands. Concrete connections to curriculum (upper high-school levels, undergraduate levels) are made clear, highlighting the relevance and importance of this material to mathematics education. Every teacher should take hold of this book.
But most important, Hull shares the joy of doing and exploring real mathematics and provides a route that all can pursue. Although this book might be marketed primarily for educators and for students, it truly is a book for *all* to enjoy.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
it's a book primarly for mathematics and Origami freaks. However, there is something for every level of skill in these topics. Very interesting approach of teaching geometric issues playfully. Even if one does not understand or is able to answer the questions, the explications give a lot of information to clarify the subject. You can skip the mathematics, too, and only go for the Origami foldings. The book could very nicely be linked to Robert J. Lang and his Origami programs, which run on MAC OS X, where you can create your own Origamis. In "Project Origami" you get some more back ground to how Origami "works" and it helps to understand the way to new, own Origamis. Needs some effort, time and work to get into it, but it's worth the trouble, I think. I am very pleased with my shopping.
Michael Bühring, Ph.D. , chemist
Michael Bühring, Ph.D. , chemist
By Kaleb
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this book because I had made Tom Hull's FIT previously off the internet directions and wanted to support his work in Origami. I also wanted to see how he was going to connect mathematics to this work. I've only done some of the stuff and it has been excellent. Thanks to Tom for all the hard work to put this together.
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