Cornrow braids
July 10, 2007 by muyiwa
"In 1999, Eglash discovered that fractal geometry – the geometry of similar shapes repeated on ever-shrinking scales – is apparent in the designs of many cultures on the continent of Africa, revealing that traditional African mathematics may be much more complicated than previously thought. He documented fractal patterns in cornrow hairstyles, weavings, and the architecture of villages, as well as many forms of African art."
Image Credit: Rensselaer/Eglash
African women have been braiding their hair for centuries, and indeed, braiding seems to be a hairstyle fashion that never goes out of vogue in Africa. So, i was quite intrigued to discover that there is actually some "serious maths" behind those cute-looking braids. This happened when I stumbled across Ron Eglash's work on "culturally situated design tools" (CSDTs), a set of computer programs which help "educate students about the mathematics principles used to design cornrow hairstyles, Mangbetu art, Navajo rugs, Yupik parka patterns, Pre-Columbian pyramids, and Latin music, among others". Read about the African origins of cornrow braiding here, and here for how Eglash's software tools are sparking student interest and increasing their achievement in mathematics.
Apparently, as in the case of nanobiotechnology which I blogged about some time ago, fractal geometry has been long known to the peoples of Africa, and it's true what the good book says about there being nothing new under the sun.
