Speaker: Laura Jimenez, PhD student at the Unviersity of Kansas
Title: The Mathematics of Origami
**Following the seminar there will be a workshop to learn how to fold one of the pieces. Both the talk and the workshop are free and open to the public.**
Abstract:
Origami is the art of folding paper into pieces of sculpture without the aid of scissors or glue. From either a single or several squares of paper, it is possible to fold shapes of unbelievable complexity and realism whose aesthetic beauty appeals to mathematicians and artists. Part of their appeal comes from the fact that origami designs show a clear link to geometry.
I will talk about the intrinsic geometry of origami going from the description of axioms for the construction of points and lines on a piece of paper to the illustration of geometric constructions that simulate the ones made by using the classical rules of straightedge and compass. I will present a particularly interesting example, the classic Greek problem of angle trisection solved by origami constructions, to show that origami is a more powerful construction method.
