Scientific journey reveals mathematics in nature.
Carolina no Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Amazonas
North, Central-West, South, and Southeast. Only the Northeast was missing from the scientific journey that researcher Carolina Araújo, from IMPA, undertook in recent days, motivated by the 1Wednesdays National Science and Technology Week. This year, the theme of the national event promoted by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC) was "Mathematics is in everything".
Carolina's journey lasted from October 18th to 2Thursdays, during which she shared with audiences from five cities – Florianópolis, Goiânia, Manaus, Niterói, and Rio – of different ages and areas of knowledge, the infinite ways in which mathematics reveals itself in nature.
“I traveled to various places in Brazil, practically from Oiapoque to Chuí. From Manaus to Florianópolis, passing through Goiânia. The week was tiring, but rewarding,” says the researcher, highlighting the variety of the audience, made up of high school students, university researchers from various fields, and the general public.
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In the lecture she prepared for the 1Wednesdays SNCT (National Science and Technology Week), she explains how mathematics is present in various aspects of nature and how it can help us understand natural phenomena. "I also show that it can help us in the important task of building a sustainable future for the next generations," details Carolina, who dedicates herself to the area of algebraic geometry.
As she talked and showed images of the "footprints" of mathematics in nature, such as those found in the hexagonal shape of the honeycomb and in the patterns found in snowflakes and flower petals, the audience discovered or rediscovered the beauty that mathematicians talk so much about.
“People were very curious and interested. They asked many questions. There were even children in the audience. And they participated as well. I felt that I achieved my goal, which was to bring mathematics closer to society, showing that it can be very interesting, beautiful, and useful. That it's not a monster as many people still see it,” observes Carolina, who is part of the organizing committee of the World Meeting for Women in Mathematics, to be held in July of next year in Rio.
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