December 4, 2008
The Crochet Coral Reef
BY: Emily Fisher
Calling all crafty/brainy coral lovers: This Sunday at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History there’s a free lecture and workshop about the Crochet Coral Reef project. That’s right, these folks are crocheting a coral reef. The project is led by the The Institute For Figuring, whose website describes the reef eloquently as “a woolly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and feminine handicraft, and a testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world.”Sunday’s event features a lecture by Margaret Wertheim, a physicist, journalist and co-founder of the Institute For Figuring, and Nancy Knowlton, the Museum’s Sant Chair for Marine Science, who will discuss coral reef conservation. After the lecture, there will be a crochet workshop for all levels. So how does it work, you ask? The reef is inspired by a mind-boggling geometric concept known as “hyperbolic space.” The concept in crochet was developed in the late ’90s by mathematician Dr Daina Taimina, who discovered that it was possible to construct physical models of hyperbolic forms in nature (such as corals, kelps, and sponges), which was previously believed to be impossible. Voila! the crochet coral. Event Details:WHEN: Sunday, Dec. 7th from 1:00pm to 5:00pm Lecture: 1:00pm – 2:15pm Workshop: 2:30pm – 5:00pm