New York, NY (PRWEB) September 09, 2016 -- Visitors Able to “Get Behind the Wheel” and Drive Cars to “Turn the World Upside Down”
Public Opening: Friday, September 16th, 2016
Twisted Thruway: Möbius Strip (twisted cylinder) and
Trefoil Knot (overhand knot with three crossings)
Unite in Innovative New Interactive Math Exhibit at MoMath
On Friday, September 16th, the enormously popular National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath), which has attracted more than half-a-million New Yorkers and visitors from around the world since its opening almost four years ago, will debut Twisted Thruway, the Museum’s newest, groundbreaking permanent exhibit and first-ever public exhibit that allows visitors to operate a remote-controlled car riding on tracks that seem to defy gravity but in actuality represent an unusual mathematical surface. Designed in-house and drawing on expertise from the top minds in mathematics, Twisted Thruway is the only place in the United States where visitors can “get behind the wheel” – using two unique tracks: the surface of a Möbius strip (a twisted cylinder) and the surface created by a trefoil knot (overhand knot with three crossings) – and be able to virtually drive a car upside down.
Two years in the making from concept to working drawings, Twisted Thruway will be the first exhibit that visitors encounter as they enter the Museum’s first floor gallery. Three people can use the exhibit at the same time: one on the single surface of the Möbius strip and the other two on the two surfaces of the trefoil track. There is a “point of view camera” on each car that allows visitors to see the actual view from the car as he/she zooms around the track. When the car rides upside down, the “driver,” will be able to see a view of the Museum that is also upside down.
“The forerunner of Twisted Thruway, a 1960s’ IBM exhibit designed by husband and wife architectural design team Charles and Ray Eames, had a car on a Möbius track, but there was no user interactivity with that exhibit,” explained Cindy Lawrence, CEO and Executive Director of MoMath. “Twisted Thruway pays homage to this early mathematical display and also highlights, in a very public way, how interesting, engaging, and fun math can be to young and old alike.”
Twisted Thruway will open to the public on Friday, September 16th.
A Members-Only Preview event will be held on Thursday, September 15th at 6:30 p.m. Members can register at thruway.momath.org.
About the National Museum of Mathematics
The National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) strives to enhance public understanding and perception of mathematics in daily life. Since it opened in December 2012, more than 500,000 New Yorkers and visitors from around the world have come to the Museum. Another 500,000 have experienced MoMath exhibitions and content in seven countries, including the United States, Singapore, Brazil, Germany, Russia, Spain, and Sweden.
The only math museum in North America, MoMath fulfills an incredible demand for hands-on math programming, creating a space where those who are math-challenged – as well as math enthusiasts of all backgrounds and levels of understanding – can revel in their own personal realm of the infinite world of mathematics through more than 37 state-of-the-art interactive exhibits. MoMath was awarded the bronze 2013 MUSE Award for Education and Outreach by the American Alliance of Museums.
Location:
MoMath is located at 11 E. 26th on the north side of popular Madison Square Park in Manhattan.
Hours:
Open seven days a week, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, visit momath.org.
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Media Contacts:
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Lisa Sherman-Cohen|lisa(at)gzandassociates(dot)com |646-603-6869
Gary Zarr, Gary Zarr & Associates, http://philandcompany.com, +1 646-490-6446, [email protected]
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