Magazine
March-April 2013
March-April 2013
Volume: 101 Number: 2
Abstract mathematical surfaces can be hard to visualize—but they are much easier to grasp mentally when they can be picked up and moved around. Mathematician sarah-marie belcastro began rendering surfaces in knitting when she was in graduate school. The cover shows a Klein bottle—a surface whose inside is contiguous with its outside—knitted by belcastro in 2013. It has a hole, visible at upper left, that can slide along the object to reveal other aspects of the structure. At right is a knitted torus—a surface whose shape is that of a hollow doughnut. (Cover photograph by Austin Green.)
In This Issue
- Agriculture
- Art
- Astronomy
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Communications
- Computer
- Engineering
- Environment
- Evolution
- Mathematics
- Medicine
- Physics
- Policy
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Technology
Adventures in Mathematical Knitting
Sarah-Marie Belcastro
Mathematics
Rendering mathematical surfaces and objects in tactile form requires both time and creativity.
Athletics and Herbal Supplements
David Senchina
Biology Medicine
Do current products enhance athletes' health and performance?
Scientists' Nightstand
The Tinkerers
Fenella Saunders
Sociology Technology Review Scientists Nightstand
A brief review of The Tinkerers: The Amateurs, DIYers, and Inventors Who Make America Great, by Alec Foege
Craniate Obsession
Katie L. Burke
Biology Photography Review Scientists Nightstand
A brief review of Skulls: An Exploration of Alan Dudley’s Curious Collection, by Simon Winchester, with photographs by Nick Mann
A Note from the Editors
The Editors
Communications Scientists Nightstand
After a nearly 70-year run, the Scientists’ Bookshelf will cease publication
