Mathematics and Culture

Mathematics has been very topical over the last few years. Theatre, cinema and books have all talked about mathematicians and mathematics. This book stresses the strong links between mathematics and culture, as mathematics links theatre, literature, architecture, art, cinema, medicine but also dance, cartoon and music. The articles introduced here are meant to be interesting and amusing starting points to research the strong connection between scientific and literary culture.

This collection gathers contributions from cinema and theatre directors, musicians, architects, historians, physicians, experts in computer graphics and writers. In doing so, it highlights the cultural and formative character of mathematics, its educational value. But also its imaginative aspect: it is mathematics that is the creative force behind the screenplay of films such as "A Beautiful Mind", theatre plays like "Proof", musicals like "Fermat's Last Tango", successful books such as Simon Singh's "Fermat's Last Theorem" or Magnus Enzensberger's "The Number Devil".

Michele Emmer is professor of Mathematics at the University of Rome "La

Sapienza". As a filmaker he has realized several videos in the series "Art and

math", including the one on M.C. Escher. He is editor of the series

"Mathematics and Culture", Springer; "The Visual Mind", MIT press; with D.

Schattschneider "M.C. Escher's Legacy", Springer. Author of "Mathland: from

Flatland to Hypersufaces", Birkhauser