Yearly Archives: 2010

39 posts

Carl Friedrich Gauss e o magnetismo da terra

Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (30 de abril de 1777 – 23 de fevereiro de 1855) foi um matemático alemão que contribuiu significativamente para muitos campos, incluindo teoria dos números, álgebra, estatística, análise, geometria diferencial, geodesia, geofísica, eletrostática, astronomia, teoria das matrizes e ótica.

O campo magnético da Terra, também conhecido como campo geomagnético, é o campo magnético que se estende desde o interior da Terra até onde encontra o vento solar, um fluxo de partículas com carga que emana do Sol. A sua magnitude na superfície da Terra varia de 25 a 65 microtesla (0,25 a 0,65 gauss). Grosso modo, é o campo de um dipolo magnético atualmente inclinado com um ângulo de cerca de 10 graus em relação ao eixo de rotação da Terra, como se houvesse uma barra magnética colocada com esse ângulo no centro da Terra. Ao contrário de uma barra magnética, no entanto, o campo magnético da Terra muda ao longo do tempo porque é gerado por um geodínamo (no caso da Terra, o movimento das ligas de ferro fundido no seu núcleo externo).

Carl Gauss: A soma dos números de 1 a 100

Carl Friedrich Gauss

«Preciso de meia hora para acabar de corrigir estes testes», pensou o professor para consigo. «Já sei, vou propor-lhes um problema de adição para os manter ocupados.»

«Quero que somem todos os números de 1 a 100», disse o professor à turma.

Em menos de um minuto Carl Gauss levantou a mão. «Já tenho a resposta», gritou ele. Rapidamente, sem o auxílio da ardósia, encontrou a solução através de um método bastante simples.

Mais tarde, Carl Gauss tornou-se um distinto matemático.

Como terá Gauss encontrado a solução através de um método simples?

The Mathematical Art Of M.C. Escher

Maurits Cornelis Escher (Leeuwarden, 17 /06/1898 Laren, 27/03/1972)
The Mathematical Art Of M.C. Escher (BBC-4, A Night of Numbers)

The Dutch artist M.C. Escher is best known for his often mesmerising geometrical images whose playfulness obscures a sophisticated grasp of mathematical theory. Dreaming the Impossible looks at the remarkable career and mathematical inspirations of this remarkable artist. M. C. Escher, born 6.17.1898, was a Dutch graphic artist known worldwide for his mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints that feature impossible constructions, exploration of infinity, architecture, and tessellations of the euclidean and hyperbolic plane. Of all major artists of the 20th Century, none was more influenced by maths than the Dutch artist MC Escher. Throughout his career, this superb draughtsman produced images that explored (and exploited) mathematical ideas.

BBC FOUR celebrated mathematics and the beauty of numbers with a series of programmes about this most precise and exacting of all intellectual disciplines. Throughout the night (A Night of Numbers), the channel showed films offering insights into the minds of great mathematicians, revealing the stories behind some of the great mathematical breakthroughs. The BBC’s celebration of mathematics has a strong Oxford flavour: Marcus du Sautoy presents ‘Music of the Primes’; ‘Breaking the Code’ draws on Andrew Hodges‘ biography of Alan Turing; many of the mathematical ideas in Escher’s work were suggested by Roger Penrose; and of course Andrew Wiles was an Oxford undergraduate. Some of the programmes are available as documentaries in CosmoLearning, underlined and hyperlinked, such as: The Music of the Primes, Breaking The Code, Fermat’s Last Theorem, Alan and Marcus Go Forth And Multiply.

M. C. Escher, Images of Mathematics…

Escher’s work covered a variety of subjects throughout his life. His early love of portraits, Roman and Italian landscapes and of nature, eventually gave way to regular division of the plane… Over 150 colorful and recognizable works testify to Escher’s ingenuity and vision. He managed to capture the notion of hyperbolic space on a fixed 2-dimensional plane as well as translating the principles of regular division onto a number of 3-dimensional objects such as spheres, columns and cubes. A number of his prints combine both 2 and 3-dimensional images with startling effect… His art continues to amaze and wonder millions of people all over the world. In his work we recognize his keen observation of the world around us and the expressions of his own fantasies. M.C. Escher shows us that reality is wondrous, comprehensible and fascinating….