Islam's Maths Stuns West
By Emma Norman
For over five hundred years Westerners have been admiring the pretty artwork of Islamic architecture, oblivious of the fact that what they were looking at was geometric genius.
Scientists from Europe and the US have been studying sophisticated geometric patterns in medieval Islamic architecture, which they believe may indicate that their designers achieved a mathematical breakthrough 500 years earlier than Western scholars.
Such patterns are commonplace in mosques and other grand Islamic architecture as Islamic tradition has historically disapproved of pictorial forms in artwork (see an example). They consist of intricate and sophisticated designs of star and polygon shapes, the geometry of which is so complex that it is believed to be a rare formation of patterns only discovered by a British mathematician, Roger Penrose, in the 1970s. These are known as quasicrystalline patterns.
In the 1990s a Danish scientist, Emil Makovicky, spotted the relationship between the artwork and quasicrystalline designs. The designs consist of shapes that interlock but whose pattern never repeats, even when extended infinitely. And if that wasn’t amazing and impressing enough, they also possess a special form of symmetry.
Study by US scientists into the designs suggests that by the year 1200 Islamic mathematicians and designers had already begun to make these amazing mathematical breakthroughs. The development of increasing design complexity can be seen throughout the centuries.
In fact many of us probably have lying around in our homes, various souvenirs featuring such designs which we’ve been admiring for their “authentic eastern charm and elegance”. All the while completely overlooking the real artwork of these designs. I’ll be looking at my psychedelic Habitat curtains from a new perspective later, who knows what genius lies undiscovered in their midst.
For more genius, but less geometry, visit Emma's page.
Scientists from Europe and the US have been studying sophisticated geometric patterns in medieval Islamic architecture, which they believe may indicate that their designers achieved a mathematical breakthrough 500 years earlier than Western scholars.
Such patterns are commonplace in mosques and other grand Islamic architecture as Islamic tradition has historically disapproved of pictorial forms in artwork (see an example). They consist of intricate and sophisticated designs of star and polygon shapes, the geometry of which is so complex that it is believed to be a rare formation of patterns only discovered by a British mathematician, Roger Penrose, in the 1970s. These are known as quasicrystalline patterns.
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In the 1990s a Danish scientist, Emil Makovicky, spotted the relationship between the artwork and quasicrystalline designs. The designs consist of shapes that interlock but whose pattern never repeats, even when extended infinitely. And if that wasn’t amazing and impressing enough, they also possess a special form of symmetry.
Study by US scientists into the designs suggests that by the year 1200 Islamic mathematicians and designers had already begun to make these amazing mathematical breakthroughs. The development of increasing design complexity can be seen throughout the centuries.
In fact many of us probably have lying around in our homes, various souvenirs featuring such designs which we’ve been admiring for their “authentic eastern charm and elegance”. All the while completely overlooking the real artwork of these designs. I’ll be looking at my psychedelic Habitat curtains from a new perspective later, who knows what genius lies undiscovered in their midst.
For more genius, but less geometry, visit Emma's page.
Image: Faith Png
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