Edmund Orme Harriss (born 1976 in Worcester, UK) is a British mathematician,[1] writer[2] and artist.[3] Since 2010 he has been at the Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences at The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas where he is an Assistant Professor of Arts & Sciences (ARSC) and Mathematical Sciences (MASC). He does research in the Geometry of Tilings and Patterns,[4] a branch of Convex and Discrete Geometry.[5] He is the discoverer of the spiral that bears his name.[6]

Education and career

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Harriss earned a Master of Mathematics at the University of Warwick (2000) and then obtained his PhD at Imperial College London (2003) with the dissertation "On Canonical Substitution Tilings" under Jeroen Lamb.[7]

Harriss has been a speaker at FSCONS, a Nordic Free software conference.[8]

Harriss is active on Numberphile where he has given talks on Heesch numbers, Tribonacci numbers, the Rauzy fractal and the plastic ratio.[9]

In May and June 2020 Harriss was a visiting fellow at The Institute for Advanced Study of Aix-Marseille University (IMéRA) where he studied the possibilities of visual and spatial models and animations to illustrate a wide variety of mathematical ideas.[10]

Mathematical art

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Sculpture made from flat materials using the curvahedra invented by Harris[11]

The Gauss–Bonnet theorem gives the relationship between the curvature of a surface and the amount of turning as you traverse the surface’s boundary.[12] Harriss used this theorem to invent shapes called Curvahedra which were then incorporated into sculpture.[13] Scientists at MIT are investigating ways in which curvahedra may have applications in construction.[14]

Art and mathematics are intertwined in Harris's work.[4] He uses public art to demonstrate deep mathematical ideas[14] and his academic work frequently involves the visualization of mathematics.[15] Mathematically themed sculptures by Harriss have been installed at Oklahoma State University,[16] at the University of Arkansas,[17][18] and at Imperial College London.[4]

Combining his interest in art and mathematical tilings he is one of 24 mathematicians and artists who make up the Mathemalchemy Team.[19][20]

Harriss Spiral

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The Harriss Spiral

Harriss noticed that the golden ratio is just one example of a more general idea: In how many ways can a rectangle be divided into squares and rectangles? The golden ratio results when a rectangle is divided into a one square and one similar rectangle. But by varying the number of squares and sub-rectangles, we arrive at what Harriss calls "proportion systems". The solutions in all cases are algebraic numbers and the golden ratio is just one of them.[21]

"The golden ratio is this incredibly well-explored corner of a whole city,” he said. “I wanted to give signposts to other locations in that city."[6]

Harriss investigated the next simplest case, dividing a rectangle into one square and two similar rectangles. The ratio that emerged in this case is the so-called plastic ratio.[22] The golden spiral is closely related to the first case, dissection into one square and one similar rectangle. Harriss applied the same idea to this second case and discovered a new fractal spiral related to the plastic ratio and since named after him.[6]

Selected publications

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Books

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Harriss has published several books designed to spread joy in mathematics.[23] The sales of his colouring books run well beyond 100,000.[2][24]

  • (2015) Snowflake Seashell Star: Colouring Adventures in Numberland with Alex Bellos ISBN 1782117881[25]
  • (2016) Patterns of the Universe: A Coloring Adventure in Math and Beauty, with Alex Bellos ISBN 9781615193233[26]
  • (2016) Visions of the Universe: A Coloring Journey Through Math's Great Mysteries, with Alex Bellos ISBN 9781615193677
  • (2020) Hello Numbers! What Can You Do? 'An Adventure Beyond Counting, with Houston Hughes, Illustrated by Brian Rea ISBN 9781615196845

Papers

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References

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  1. ^ Experiencing Mathematics – Edmund Harriss at Imperial College London 11 December 2018
  2. ^ a b "Colouring-in books boom continues with volume of mathematical patterns", by Alison Flood, The Guardian, 06 Jul 2015
  3. ^ Mathematical Art Galleries: Edmund Harriss Bridges Conference
  4. ^ a b c Edmund Harriss bio Aix-Marseille University
  5. ^ Edmund Orme Harriss at ResearchGate
  6. ^ a b c The golden ratio has spawned a beautiful new curve: the Harriss spiral The Guardian, 13 January 2015
  7. ^ Edmund Harriss at the Mathematics Genealogy Project  
  8. ^ FSCONS 2009/Summary FSCONS wiki
  9. ^ Edmund Harriss videos
  10. ^ Edmund Harriss: Visiting Fellow IMéRA - Institute for Advanced Study
  11. ^ Mathematician's UA art multiplies, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, August 31, 2019
  12. ^ Gauss-Bonnet Sculpting, by Edmund Harriss, Bridges 2020
  13. ^ Harriss, Edmund (2020). "Gauss-Bonnet Sculpting". Proceedings of Bridges 2020: Mathematics, Art, Music, Architecture, Education, Culture. 2020: 137–144. ISBN 978-1938664366.
  14. ^ a b Honors College, Gearharts Dedicate Curvahedra Sculpture University of Arkansas NEWS, Oct. 21, 2021
  15. ^ Mathematician's UA art multiplies; Large outdoor campus work in plans by Jaime Adame, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 31 August 2019
  16. ^ Mathematics Learning Success Center to Unveil Artwork OSU College of Arts and Sciences
  17. ^ Courtyard Curvahedra, By Kendall Curlee, University of Arkansas: A+ Online 2021
  18. ^ Experience the Beauty of Mathematics in 'Courtyard Curvahedra' University of Arkansas Newa, March 09, 2022
  19. ^ Mathemalchemy’s Team
  20. ^ Art Installation Celebrates the Beauty and Whimsy of Math Duke Today, November 9, 2021
  21. ^ "Spirals of Harris" thought inspired by the beauty that the golden ratio produces Gigazine.net (in Japanese), Jan 15, 2015
  22. ^ On the cover: Harriss spiral by Matthew Scroggs and Edmund Harriss, Chalkdust Magazine, 14 March 2019
  23. ^ Edmund Harriss The Experiment Publishing
  24. ^ "You're Never Too Old to Color—Especially Math Patterns", by Angela Watercutter, Wired Nov 30, 2015
  25. ^ "Coloring By Numbers, Mathematically", by Chau Tu, Science Friday, February 1, 2016
  26. ^ "Patterns of the Universe A Coloring Adventure in Math and Beauty", Science Magazine, 01 Jan 2016, Vol 351, Issue 6268, p. 36
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