Answering Big Questions
Mathematics professor Satyan Devadoss has received a three-year, $79,591 grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The organization seeks to give “great minds the space and resources to stretch their imaginations.”
Devadoss’ project, “Mathematics, Dualism and the Renaissance Revival,” proposes to “break down walls between the physical and cerebral,” he says. The project is divided into four parts and will produce a variety of written materials, including research articles and editorials; a new course curriculum for undergraduates; various public speaking engagements; and a possible book proposal.
For one part of the project he is creating a new course in which origami techniques will be used to demonstrate the connections between art and mathematics. He also is continuing research that focuses on the shape of phylogenetic structures. Along those lines, the exhibition “Cartography of Tree Space,” a collaboration between Devadoss and visual artist Owen Schuh, inspired by the Renaissance ideal of “the fluidity between the humanities and sciences,” is on exhibit at Satellite Berlin through April.
Devadoss says this way of thinking—which merges academic concepts like math, biology and art in order to arrive at a greater understanding of all three—reinforces the goals of a liberal arts institution like Williams. “The fact that these notions are not just in your head, that they can be embodied, for me is a way to go back to the time of the Renaissance,” he adds.
The Templeton Foundation funds research into the “basic forces, concepts and realities governing the universe and humankind’s place in the universe.” It’s concerned with “bold ideas that cross disciplinary boundaries to engage the Big Questions.”
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