Dear all
Whilst I take John's point about the need for substantial
funding for a maths museum, and fully agree with Richard that the
Mathematikum is a good model for such, I would like to query
his view that the exhibition we ran was rather expensive for something
quite small.
For an investment of £15k we ran an exhibition at the Royal
Society to which 50,000 people came, and followed this up with
exhibitions at the Big Bang for 30,000, the Manchester Science
Festival for 10,000 and Bath Taps for 2,000. The exhibition will
be having further appearences at the Big Bang next year, Bath Taps and
at the Manchester Festival, so I estimate that the £15k
led to a maths exhibition seen by over 100 000 people (that
works out at 15p per person). I hope that this shows what can be
done with a bit of energy. I would really like to push all
maths promoters to run such exhibitions. Science festivals have far
too few maths exhibits in them (with of course some excellent
and glorious exceptions) and maths is much cheaper to
exhibit than some of the other areas of STEM.
Best wishes
Chris
Quoting Richard Browne <[log in to unmask]>:
> Dear All
>
>
>
> I think a permanent mathematical museum in the UK is an excellent idea.
>
>
>
> We should also make sure we learn from experience in Germany, where
> a similar museum exists in Giessen http://www.mathematikum.de/ (the
> website has an English version)
>
>
>
> Richard Browne
>
>
>
> From: Mathematics Promoters list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of John Sharp
> Sent: 12 April 2011 13:17
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: A UK Maths "Museum" ?
>
>
>
> Robe and All
>
> When Chris Budd sent his admirable document on getting funding for
> exhibits, I looked at the amounts and thought it was expensive to do
> something quite small.
> Almost at the same time, I had an email from George Hart talking
> about much more money.
>
>>> You may be interested to see that the Chief Technology Advocate at
>>> Google lists polyhedra as an important boyhood inspiration:
>
> http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/supporting-our-beloved-science-museums.html
>
>> > I'm also happy that it announces Google is supporting the Museum of
>>> Mathematics with a $2 million donation!
>
>>> George Hart
>>> Chief of Content
>>> Museum of Mathematics
>
> A similar idea in this country needs someone like this who knows
> what we are talking about.
>
> I know George personally from my involvement with the Bridges
> Conference. He is also someone who can get something moving.
>
> George is in Europe for the Bridges Conference this year
>
> http://bridgesmathart.org/bridges-2011/2011-speakers-coordinators/
>
> He also gave a web talk with other members of the Museum of
> Mathematics which can be heard at:
>
> http://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/Momath
>
> John S
>
>
> ==============================
>
> On Mon, Apr 11, 2011 at 11:11 AM, Rob Eastaway
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Dear All
>
>
>
> Geoff Wain (who ran the PopMaths Roadshow in 1990) and Margaret
> Brown of Kings College London have formed a small group that aims to
> set up a permanent “Mathematics Museum” in the UK -though the word
> museum has the wrong connotations, better to think of it as
> something highly interactive that will attract all age groups, more
> along the lines of the old “Exploratory” in Bristol.
>
>
>
> The USA has set a precedent, with its travelling exhibition that’s
> due to become a permanent “museum” in New York http://momath.org/
>
>
>
> Projects like this need substantial funding, and only succeed if
> there is a core group of individuals who are passionate about the
> idea and committed to driving it forward. I suggested to Geoff that
> those individuals might be found within the Maths Prom list. If you
> want to help bring about a UK Maths Museum/Exploratory , can you
> email Geoff Wain to express interest. [log in to unmask] uk
>
>
>
> Rob E.
>
>
>
>
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