LIFESTYLE13A The Pr inceton Packet Fr iday, June 24, 2011
Editor Michael Redmond • 609-874-2159 • [email protected]
I never fall part because I never fall together.— Andy Warhol
SPOTLIGHT Volunteer!PACKETPICKS The art
of science
Above: ‘Insomnia’ by Arielle Qua.
Above: ‘Pumpkin Orbs’ by Sam Windom.
Above: ‘Ocean Debris’ by Justine Steinberger.
In mathematics, a pol-ynomial is an expres-sion of finite length
constructed from vari-ables (also known asindeterminates) andconstants, using only
the operations of addi-tion, subtraction, mul-tiplication, and non-
negative integer expo-nents. (Wiki)
Saturday, June 25
Saving the queenHoneybees are crucial to
food production. Colony Col-lapse Disorder—a phenome-non where honeybees vanishfrom their hives — has causedwidespread alarm amongstfarmers who depend onhoneybees for crop pollina-tion. The Whole Earth Centerand Princeton Public Libraryare cosponsoring the screeningof “Queen of the Sun: Whatare the bees telling us?” — anin-depth investigation into thecauses and solutions behindColony Collapse Disorder.The screening will be held onMonday, June 27, at 7 p.m. inthe Community Room at thePrinceton Public Library.
“Queen of The Sun” fol-lows the voices and visions ofbeekeepers, philosophers, andscientists from around theworld, all struggling for thesurvival of the bees. While in-vestigating the crisis affectingthe bees, “Queen of The Sun”balances the dark reality weface with both the secret won-der of the beehive and thegood humor of devoted bee-keepers. The film contrastsverdant landscapes and thriv-ing beescapes with the harsh-ness of global industrial agri-culture.
“Queen of The Sun” re-veals bees as a barometer ofthe health of the world. Beesfly millions of miles to keepthe earth in bloom and haveprovided humans with honey,wax and pollination for ourfood for over 10,000 years.Through animation and illumi-nated imagery, “Queen of TheSun” uncovers how bees werehighly revered by theEgyptians, Mayans andGreeks, and explores how thebond between humans andbees, once a sacred partner-ship, is now a complicated,profit-driven, industrial enter-prise.
To promote the film andthe benefits of providing beehabitats, the Whole Earth Cen-ter will have a honey tastingevent, with beeswax crafts andinformation about pollinatorgardens, at the store on Satur-day, June 25, from 9 a.m. tonoon. The Whole Earth Centeris located at 360 Nassau St/.Princeton.
On the Web: www.quee-nofthesun.com.
Monday, June 27
Greeting the duchessSarah Ferguson, The
Duchess of York, will launchher much-anticipated memoir,“Finding Sarah,” at 7 p.m. atBarnes & Noble at PrincetonMarketFair, 3535 US Route 1South, West Windsor.
Line passes will be distrib-uted starting at 9 a.m. on June27 at the mall checkout area.The purchase of at least onecopy of “Finding Sarah,” withreceipt from either Barnes &Noble or www.bn.com, willrequired to receive a line passfor signing line.
— Michael Redmond
By Pat EllardSpecial to The Packet
The man approached the board, and the teensstraightened up, boys and girls alike. They wantedto see what he would write. The banter stopped.“Hey, look at my computer” gave way to silence.It was impressive.
The man’s voice was soft, but it carried to thecorners of the room. “So, you see, this is an irra-tional number,” he said, pointing to the squareroot of 2 on the board. Irrational or not, it didn’tmatter. As pertaining to a polynomial, it was justfine.
I hadn’t heard the expression “irrational num-ber” since Algebra II. I’m reasonably good atmath — I can halve or double a recipe with notrouble at all, figure out how many doll outfits canbe made from a piece of cloth, how much time Ineed to do that last errand compared to how muchtime I have. Some might call these irrational cal-culations, but not this man.
Dr. Bahman Kalantari is a seriousmathematician/computer scientist, one who canhandle irrational numbers and irrational calcula-tions with equal ease. Today he is volunteering inMontgomery High School, showing Mike Stern’sclass in Discrete Math how polynomials can bethe source of some lovely artwork. Some of thedesigns are like fractals, where a shape changesslightly and repeats both itself and the change adinfinitum. But the designs don’t have to be frac-tals. For you math lovers out there, Wikipediacites Mandelbrot’s “The Fractal Geometry of Na-ture,” which describes a fractal as “a rough orfragmented geometric shape that can be split intoparts, each of which is (at least approximately) areduced-size copy of the whole.“
Dr. Kalantari’s day job is professor of Com-puter Science at Rutgers. He is a world traveler,having demonstrated this facet of math and com-puter science in Japan, South Korea, Paris, Italy,Belgium, Spain, and Argentina. But today he isvolunteering in Montgomery, and his work is fas-cinating the class. Whoever said that femalesdon’t like math should see these girls, graphingpolynomials, changing them into designs so love-ly that they would take your breath away. Andwhoever thinks males don’t like art should seethese boys and the admiration they have for thedesigns Dr. Kalantari’s software produces.
Polynomiography, Dr. Kalantari’s topic today,bridges the gap between math and art, combiningthem into patterns that have balance, symmetryand equilibrium. He tells the class, “Solving poly-nomial equations is the foundation of science.”He describes the solution, or root, of a polynomialas a set of points. Polynomiography as “a game ofhide-and-seek with a bunch of points,” he says.His software seeks those points and uses them tomake designs.
The math is not simple. In preparation for Dr.Kalantari’s visit, Mr. Stern gave his class a lessonon Newton’s method of approximation. He alsoinvited one of the school’s art teachers to speak tothe class about art. Today Dr. Kalantari is helpingthe students manipulate the software to solve thepolynomials and create the designs.
The designs are exquisite, and no two arealike. Dr. Kalantari says that his software is like acamera. “You and I might each have a camera,but we take different pictures.” It’s true — eachperson’s inner eye will recognize different thingsas beautiful or noteworthy.Dr. Kalantari has dem-onstrated his software to other groups, not justhigh school or college students. He has evenshown it to “ ... very young kids,” he says. “Theylove it, but their parents can’t pronounce it.” Poly-nom-ee-OG-raphy: I have trouble with it, too.“The beauty of it [is that] it catches the attentionof the young. They start and they get amazed atthe simplicity of it,” he says. It certainly hascaught my attention. “Making Math Fun – Poten-tial Uses for Polynomiography in Special Educa-tion” is the title of a project of one of his under-graduate students in an interdisciplinary course heteaches at Rutgers University. Dr. Kalantari hopesthat his software will eventually be used in K-12education across the country. The software andthe designs speak for themselves; this is fun forall ages and can be understood on many differentlevels.
“Is it just good for creating art?” I ask. “No,”Dr Kalantari answers. “A scanner could read thepolynomial graph rather than a number or a barcode.” My husband suggests that it is somewhatlike cryptography and might have applicationthere. Dr. Kalantari nods with approval. My hus-band understands better than I do. Polynomiogra-phy can even be used to tell a story. Dr. Kalantariused it to illustrate “A Futuristic Love Story,”which recounts the tale of a (fictional) young ladywho gave her suitor her address – in the form of apolynomiograph. He solved it, and ... — ah, but Idon’t want to spoil the story!
To enjoy more of these unusual designs, sign onto www.polynomiography.com. To contact Dr.Kalantari, write to [email protected].
Sarah Ferguson
IN THE KITCHEN
Blueberries!Try exploring the Tri-County Co-op
By Pat TannerSpecial Writer For much of its history, which began around
1933, farmers from within a 20-mile radius ofHightstown would gather at the Tri-County Co-operative to auction off their fresh-picked Jerseyproduce to the highest bidder. Anyone willing tobuy by the bushel or other large quantity was wel-come to bid, although few members of the generalpublic ever showed up. That included me — whofor more than 10 years lived within walking dis-tance of the auction’s open-sided wood-plankdocks, just off Mercer Street where Hightstownends and East Windsor begins.
The public began to show up in 2008, whenfarmers on the co-op’s board brought in Pegi Bal-lister-Howells to manage sales and to implementkey changes that would bring this historic produceexchange into the 21st century. Key among thesewas to offer direct sales from farmer to buyer atset prices three times a week. In high growingseason, sales take place on Monday, Wednesday,and Friday, starting at 5:30 p.m. The change has
See BLUEBERRIES, Page 16A
