Hyperbolic crochet

Sorry, this post isn't a quilty one, but it's so interesting, I had to share it with you all. I heard an article on BBC Radio 4 the other day about hyperbolic crochet which was bizarre! Apparently, in advanced mathematics, there is a theory about hyperbolic space, but it's so complicated, no one has been able to make a model of it. Until, that is, US mathematician Daina Taimina realised that it was perfectly possible to make a model using crochet! Following on from that, academic sisters Margaret and Christine Wertheim have developed this idea to make a model of the Great Barrier Reef using crochet (obviously, you knew that coral is formed in a hyperbolic way too). There is an exhibition of the reef at the Hayward gallery in London until August 17th.

Here are a couple of photos I found on The Guardian newspaper's site www.guardian.co.uk/arts/gallery/2008/jun/04/crochet.great.barrier.reef There are more photos there if you like the eye candy including one of a part with plastic bags and other rubbish - very true to life, I'd say.
Enjoy!