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Mathematics in Action from Lisbon: Engagement with the Popularization and Communication of Mathematics

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Raising Public Awareness of Mathematics

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Abstract

Although not a new subject, the Popularization of Mathematics, viewed as an activity of “sharing mathematics with a wider public” and “encouraging people to be more active mathematically”, is a relatively recent topic that motivated the fifth international study (Howson and Kahane in The Popularization of Mathematics, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1990) of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction and had seen important developments after the World Mathematical Year—WMY2000.

In this article we describe the engagement with the popularization and communication of mathematics that is being developed at the University of Lisbon, within the historical environment provided by its Museum of Science, which has a rich heritage. There are a significant number of initiatives open to society, from the educational community to the general public, and there has been a special collaboration with the Portuguese Mathematical Society since its foundation. Enhanced by the challenge of the WMY2000 and the project Matemática em Acção, developed by the Centro de Matemática e Aplicações Fundamentais, we describe several activities such as exhibitions, films, interactive applications and publications, that range from ruled surfaces, sundials and architecture to mathematical games, taking into account mathematics as an educational resource and exploring the multimedia and computational tools for communicating mathematics.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The historic building of the Museum also hosted the first editorial office of Portugaliae Mathematica, the Portuguese mathematics research journal founded in 1937, the Centro de Estudos Matemáticos de Lisboa and also the first editorial office of the Gazeta de Matemática, both dating from 1940.

  2. 2.

    These proceedings also include an article on the Beijing astronomical observatory, which has more than 550 years of history and possesses unique bronze mathematical instruments of the Ming dynasty (17th century), which have recently been restored and constitute an open air museum.

  3. 3.

    The Portuguese component of the Diderot Mathematical Forum was organized by CMAF and was partially held at the University of Lisbon in co-ordination with the XII National Seminar on the History of Mathematics organized by SPM.

  4. 4.

    To support these activities, in addition to traditional mathematical puzzles, new materials have been produced as, for instance, an original puzzle with polyhedra and numbers exploring permutation groups invented by Jorge Rezende [41].

  5. 5.

    This work was carried out in partnership with the S. João de Brito School and was presented in the 4th Forum Ciência Viva, held in Lisbon in May 2000 http://wwmat.mat.fc.ul.pt/em_accao/superficies_regradas/.

  6. 6.

    This initiative was developed as a collaboration between the high school António Arroio and the Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science of the University of Lisbon.

  7. 7.

    This interactive book is in development through a partnership between the project Matemática em Acção, the Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science of the University of Lisbon and a Basic School (EB2,3 Piscinas, Lisbon).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museu de Ciência and Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Ana Maria Eiró

  2. FCUL (Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa), Departamento de Matemática, Lisbon, Portugal

    Suzana Nápoles

  3. FCUL/Centro de Matemática e Aplicações Fundamentais da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    José Francisco Rodrigues

  4. FCUL/Centro Interuniversitário de História das Ciências e da Tecnologia and Associação Ludus, Lisbon, Portugal

    Jorge Nuno Silva

Authors
  1. Ana Maria Eiró
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  2. Suzana Nápoles
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  3. José Francisco Rodrigues
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  4. Jorge Nuno Silva
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ana Maria Eiró .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Fachbereich Mathematik und Informatik, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 6, Berlin, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Ehrhard Behrends

  2. Inst. Superior de Economia e Gestão, Depto. Matemática, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Rua Miguel Lupi 20, Lisboa, 1200, Portugal

    Nuno Crato

  3. CMAF, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto 2, Lisboa, 1649-003, Portugal

    José Francisco Rodrigues

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Eiró, A.M., Nápoles, S., Rodrigues, J.F., Silva, J.N. (2012). Mathematics in Action from Lisbon: Engagement with the Popularization and Communication of Mathematics. In: Behrends, E., Crato, N., Rodrigues, J. (eds) Raising Public Awareness of Mathematics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25710-0_11

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