Fragments of Infinity: A Kaleidoscope of Math and Art

What do math equations look like when the numbers are translated into form and the form is rendered in, say, silk, or glass? In Fragments of Infinity: A Kaleidoscope of Math and Art, Ivars Peterson (The Jungles of Randomness), a writer and editor at Science News, studies sculpture inspired by abstract math. Many among this breed appear in plazas and subway stations; others get little visibility, being too minute or fragile. Quasicrystals and hypercubes rendered in glass and metal; lattices transformed into different geometric patterns; M bius strips made of everything from ribbon to bronze; computer sculpture generators via numerous methods and media, the work examined explores ""the beauty of embedded possibility."" Helaman Ferguson, Harriet Brisson and William Webber are among the artists represented. 250-plus photos and illus. (Oct.)