- Author
- Gloria Gilmer, Math-Tech, Milwaukee
- Published
- Undated
- Kind
- Short conference paper with classroom activities, hosted on a university website
- Original
- math.buffalo.edu/mad/special/gilmer-gloria_HAIRSTYLES.html
- Subject
- Mathematics and optimization
- Themes
- Rules that generate, Getting good
What it is
Gloria Gilmer is a mathematician and mathematics educator. The paper was prepared for a National Council of Teachers of Mathematics meeting. It sets out to show the mathematics in a cultural practice.
What it says
- The paper says braiders use tessellations without seeing them as mathematics.
- It says only the regular hexagon, square and equilateral triangle tessellate among regular polygons.
- It says box braids follow a brick-wall pattern.
- It says triangular braids drew hair to the point where the angle bisectors meet.
- It says box braids hide the scalp and, the authors were told, move little.
- The author asks what braiding can give mathematics education, and what education can give braiding.
What evidence it gives
The evidence is the author's observation of stylists and customers in salons. Two collaborators also observed and interviewed stylists. No counts of salons or styles are given. The figures were not available in the text, so only the written descriptions were read.
Interests and limits
The paper is short and descriptive, with no measurements or study design. The page carries no date. A date of 12/31/98 appears only in the hosting site footer. The figures were not viewed. The paper aims at teachers and is not a formal study.
Connections
These links are this wiki's own reading, not claims the sources make.
- What Heraldry and Japanese Mon Can Teach Us About Building Visual-Identity Generators. Overmyer asks which rules a tradition held and which came later from explainers. Gilmer's braiders use tessellations without seeing them as mathematics. So a rule can live in the hands before anyone writes it down.