07/09/2024

'Mathematics is as important as one's mother tongue'

How important is it to know mathematics? At the round table “Innovation in the history of mathematics and in literary language”, which took place on Saturday afternoon (7) at the National Mathematics Festival (FestMat), Marcelo Viana, director-general of IMPA, argued that “knowing the subject is as important as mastering the mother tongue”. Author of the book, “Histories of Mathematics. From counting on fingers to Artificial Intelligence”, Viana met with Marcella Faria, biologist and author of “Natural Numbers”, to show how art and literature are full of mathematics. The conversation was moderated by journalist Carla Almeida.

“Mathematics is not just a subject studied in the classroom. Mathematics is a tool used every day around the world to solve problems, generate wealth and development. Brazil is extremely lacking in professionals capable of doing this work to change the world,” Viana told the audience.

In the conversation, Marcela Faria defended the preservation of playfulness in mathematics education. “I have the impression that children are natural mathematicians. Their questioning behavior in games, their ability to explore abstract rules – these are playful aspects. And playfulness is very mathematical. What we need is to keep that alive.”

During the chat, Viana also took the opportunity to defend science communication. The director-general of IMPA shared his experiences in this process of popularizing the discipline with the audience. In addition to traveling to all states giving lectures, in 2017 he began writing a column about mathematics for Folha de S.Paulo. The decision was motivated by the Mathematics Biennium, a law aimed at promoting the discipline in the country. “I thought the column would end with the end of the biennium. But the experience was better than I imagined. As a result, writing every week became an addiction. Today I consider myself better informed in my own field.”

After so many years committed to the newspaper's audience, Viana launched the book "Histórias da Matemática" (Stories of Mathematics) in July of this year. The work is a collection of texts published in Folha de S.Paulo, which follows a chronological order and shows the evolution of mathematics to the present day. The book is published by Tinta da China and was successfully sold at the Travessa bookstore stand, present at the National Mathematics Festival, as was the book "Números Naturais" (Natural Numbers), by Marcella Faria. The event also included an autograph session.

Mathematics and computer graphics

And since mathematics is everywhere, it couldn't be any different with computer graphics. IMPA researcher Tiago Novello, a member of Visgraf (IMPA's Computer Graphics Laboratory), was tasked with demonstrating how mathematical concepts are fundamental to everyday digital materials, such as games and films.

In his lecture “The mathematics behind computer graphics”, he used practical examples to explain how equations, matrix types, and trigonometry concepts provide the basis for algorithms applied in films, virtual games, and activities that utilize virtual reality.

"Three-dimensional computational models are applied to animations, virtual reality models, and 3D printing. Triangle mesh, or 'triangle soup,' is the name of the tool used to represent surfaces in computer graphics and render elements," he said.

But in addition to rendering the elements graphically, it's necessary to calculate the color of each pixel. Once again, mathematics is fundamental to saving time and money. "The concept of matrices is applied to understand what the color of each pixel will be. Since there are infinite points, it would be very expensive to do this individually," said Novello.