UmU's Mathematics Cinema is showing The man who saved geometry, a film about Donald Coxeter. After the movie, we will fold origami polyhedra with Ebba Gullberg.
15:15-15:30 Introduction by Klara Stokes
15:30-16:30 Movie: The man who saved geometry about Donald Coxeter
16:30-18:00 Workshop by Ebba Gullberg in polyhedra origami
We will serve light snacks!
Harold Scott MacDonald “Donald” Coxeter (9 February 1907 – 31 March 2003) was a British-Canadian geometer and mathematician widely regarded as one of the greatest geometers of the 20th century. His pioneering work on the symmetries in space—and the objects on which these symmetries act—revolutionized our understanding of polyhedra, tessellations, and higher-dimensional figures. Over a remarkable 60-year career at the University of Toronto, he laid the groundwork for modern geometric theory and inspired generations with his deep insights.
Coxeter’s influence extended well beyond the realm of pure mathematics. In 1954, his collaboration with artist M. C. Escher sparked a creative fusion that informed some of Escher’s most celebrated works, including the Circle Limit series based on hyperbolic tessellations. His contributions were recognized with numerous honors such as being made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1950, the award of the Sylvester Medal in 1997, and the establishment of the Coxeter–James Prize by the Canadian Mathematical Society in 1978.
This event is organised by the Department of Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics. All staff and students at Umeå University are most welcome.