An article in Science News describes a new way for mathematicians to visualise objects in four dimensions.
If this seems quite abstruse, trust me, it is.
However, Etienne Ghys, of the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon (France) with his colleagues Jos Leys and Aurélien Alvarez has managed to create a dynamic representation of the four-dimensional systems he studies: “I live in dimension four,” he says.
He has created a series of short videos that take you through a brief history of mathematics and cartography (how do you project three dimensions onto a plane surface) to a place where we can start imagining four dimensions.
Ghys explains that there are many more than four dimensions, but makes the point that the fourth is the most beautiful, and required to understand the physics of relativity.
You can watch and download the videos here. A choice of languages is available. Even if it may be a little hard to understand (for me anyway), the imagery is fabulous and opens up all sorts of creative possibilities.
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