The general public’s interest in mathematics is gaining momentum. Therefore, the resources on offer regarding math communication, math exhibitions, and math museums has seen a tremendous growth worldwide in the last few years.

 

IMAGINARY, a platform initiated by the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach in Germany is one such example of a math outreach initiative. There are dozens of extraordinary projects around the world that bring the beauty of mathematics closer to the general public, and each one of these has very valuable experience worthwhile to be shared.

 

We believe that it is the opportune moment to build and link an open community of mathematics communicators. Math and science museums, traveling exhibitions, individuals devoted to the dispersion of mathematics - all these agents are not competitors, but rather provide outreach services that can benefit from an active exchange of experiences, opinions, and strategies.

 

A first step in weaving this network of communicators would be to collect a comprehensive list of active institutions and people. We then want to invite everyone to form an integral part of the planning and implementation process of this new network.

 

We propose to jointly build a service-oriented network infrastructure and therefore we would like to collect any requirements and ideas first.

 

So far, we propose the following concrete projects:

Math museums worldwide

This is the attempt to compile a comprehensive list and global map of all math museums and science museums with significant collections on mathematics. This includes in a broad sense all permanent exhibitions accessible to the general public and focussing on math communication.

 

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WikiMathCom

WikiMathCom is a wiki aimed to collect all projects and resources about math communication, such as math museums, exhibits, books, films, fairs, performances, etc. WikiMathCom is a project supported by IMAGINARY, and it belongs to all the math outreach community.

Newsletters

These periodic newsletters contain announcements and news of the interest of professionals of math communication. This includes conferences, openings of new exhibitions, proposals of collaboration, etc.

• Newsletter 2018/1
• Newsletter 2017/3
• Newsletter 2017/2
• Newsletter 2017/1
• Newsletter 2016/2
• Newsletter 2016/1
• Newsletters 2015: (2015/1, 2015/2, 2015/3, 2015/4, 2015/5)
• Newsletters 2014: (2014/1, 2014/2, 2014/3, 2014/4)

Proposal for a Code of Conduct

With the occasion of the first MATRIX conference, held in Dresden (Germany) in September 2014, a small group formed from Imaginary, Erlebnisland Mathematik and a legal advisor prepared a first draft of this code of Conduct. The conference gathered representatives of many relevant math museums and exhibitions. The proposal was presented at the conference under the title of Dresden Declaration, and everybody was invited to bring their opinion about the topic. This proposal was not signed or subscribed formally by the participants, and it remains as an open project.

Download here the text of the Dresden Declaration proposal.

 

If you are interested on participating on its writing, or if you wish to give your opinion, please write to network@imaginary.org

Other services

We are working on some other services that may be useful to the community, including the listing below. Give us your feedback about your needs.

• An ongoing collection of ideas for mathematics communication services, which we will extend, prioritize and jointly work on.
• A joint and open mathematics communication calendar combining all public events and activities in the area of mathematics communication (exhibitions, workshops, events, conferences, etc.)

If you want to be a part of this network project, please let us know. All the above mentioned projects can only be carried out jointly.

 

Tasks for math communicators:

1. Add your idea for a math communication service the community/network needs.
2. Help us to enrich the math museums list with more data on museums, science networks and in the future also pictures and descriptions.
3. Do you use a calendar to announce your events? Are you interested in a joint international calendar, which you can also use on your own website? Please send us information on your events page and the format you use.

 

Contact:

Daniel Ramos
IMAGINARY
daniel.ramos@imaginary.org
network@imaginary.org