Knitting Numbers

A math researcher at Cornell has developed the first workable model of hyperbolic space. The fantastic part: her name is Daina Taimina and she's creating the complex models with her mad crochet skills. Dr. Taimina, a math researcher at Cornell University, started crocheting the objects so her students could visualize something called hyperbolic space, which is an advanced geometric shape with constant negative curvature. The models and their maker are becoming a huge crossover hit in the art world, with the crocheted pieces now on display at Eleven Eleven Sculpture Space, an art gallery in Washington. The curvy creations, made of yarn, are actually both. And they are helping two very different groups - artists and mathematicians - learn more about each other. Increasingly, they are also making a quirky celebrity out of the woman who created them. Apparently chicks aren't too pretty for math after all.