The Universe may be a Mystery, but it's no Secret!

Does 5x5=25 or 14? Are you sure?
Ma and Pa Kettle mix mathematical principles in this amusing old movie clip on YouTube.

Can 7x13=28? It doesn't seem likely, but perhaps you'll be convinced!
Abbott and Costello also mix mathematical principles in this amusing old movie clip and also this one on YouTube.

The Great Math Mystery
Is math invented by humans, or is it the language of the universe?

(My opinion: mathematics comes with the universe but humans invent the numerals and symbols to describe it.)

Most people will say that the 50 stars stand for the 50 states, but that's not completely correct!

The quantity 50 does indeed represent the number of states, but the 5-pointed star itself is a symbol of life and humanity:
thus, the 50 stars represent the People of the 50 states, not the states themselves.

They're there to remind us that the ultimate power in the United States resides in the hands of free people who consent to be governed, not in any government that the people have elected to protect and serve them.
Fifty stars represent free citizens ruling themselves, having inalienable rights , not subjects of any government deciding which rights to grant or deny them.
It's important to remember this, and that the blue field should never be replaced with any other symbol than 5-pointed stars, representing We The People.

(Although dozens of countries' flags display the five-pointed star, a few employ it this way as an archetypal symbol of humanity and others interpret it culturally in different ways.)

But now, after 3 great years, the Constructing The Universe Classroom has closed,
             having appeared for a while and then faded back into the mist of time, a Brigadoon of mathematical education.
With Immense Thanks! to all my students, adults and children (and their dedicated parents)
            and the many friends and supporters of the Classroom and this positive approach to mathematics education.

What next? The contents of the classroom are going into storage, like a seed pod awaiting the proper conditions for another bursting forth.
In the meantime I'll be working on making available the educational materials I've developed here for others to use
                  for teaching and learning the many topics this classroom gave me the time and enthusiastic students to create.

November 2012

"How I Came to Write A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe"

I wrote this autobiographical essay and answered questions as Author of the Month (December 2013) at the Graham Hancock website.

Follow my journey of learning through its links.

To read the essay, click on the book cover...

Scientists finally prove what I wrote about in 1993!

On pages 159-160 in A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe I described the reasons, as I saw them,
that birds often fly in V-formation:

Now, over 20 years later, scientists have done experiments to prove it:

Science Magazine

National Geographic

USA Today

NPR

Observe Geometry Within A Flower

"There is a geometry of art as there is a geometry of life,
and, as the Greeks had guessed,
they happen to be the same."
-- Matila Ghyka

"We have to admire in humility the beautiful harmony of the structure of this world — as far as we can grasp it..."
-- Albert Einstein

"One of [the brain's] functions is to make the miraculous seem ordinary, and turn the unusual into the usual.
Otherwise, human beings, forced with the daily wondrousness of everything would go around wearing a stupid grin, saying "WOW" a lot.
Part of the brain exists to stop this happening. It is very efficient and can make people experience boredom in the middle of marvels."

-- Sir Terry Pratchett, English author

I enjoy building Mathematical models of plants

Click on the picture to find out more "You’ve travelled up ten thousand steps in search of the Dharma.
So many long days in the archives, copying, copying.
The gravity of the Tang and the profundity of the Sung make heavy baggage.
Here! I’ve picked you a bunch of wildflowers.
Their meaning is the same but they’re much easier to carry."
-- Empty Cloud (Zen Master 1840-1959)

"Outbursts of Truth" The July 2015 edition of Science To Sage magazine has a 20-page spread (pages 74 - 93)
of images and information from my Fibonacci Garden DVD. Click on the cover above to explore the magazine.

Does anyone recognize this writing? Are there any linguists with knowledge of ancient languages out there? If you've seen this type of writing before, please let me know what culture it's associated with! michael@constructingtheuniverse.com Left: original

Right: my best guess as to the shapes

Here is a website showing some art of the Norwegian painter Siv Moa Lonning who has used these books and DVDs in planning her beautiful "Symphonies of Geometry".

This is the video of a presentation I gave concerning my take on the apparent

Golden Ratio Geometry in Egyptian Art

In modern orthodox Egyptology, recognizing the consistent, intentional application of the Golden Ratio
in the designs of their arts, crafts and architecture is controversial, even denied,
but to me there is no doubt about it!

It is consistent with their philosophy of Ma'a, of maintaining eternal Truth, Justice, Uprightness and Right Order
in symbolic and mythological alignment with the eternal Truths found in mathematics, in simple numbers, shapes and their proportions.

This video is a visual presentation of my findings of apparent applications of Golden Rectangles
in the geometric composition and symbolism of ancient Egyptian arts, crafts and architecture.
It was presented at the CPAK conference on Saturday October 10th, 2009,
at the National Academy of Sciences' Beckman Center at UC Irvine, California.

If you're interested in Egyptian art and/or the Golden Ratio then you might enjoy its interesting examples.

For example, a Golden Rectangle surrounds this Udjat (eye) pectoral.

It's divided into a large red square (right) and vertical Golden Rectangle (left, split into square and smaller Golden Rectangle) containing the vulture goddess Mut.

Mut simply swings her wing and divides the Golden Rectangle into a square above a smaller Golden Rectangle (yellow).

This is part of the alignment of it's elements into harmonious arrangement
of the parts with each other and the whole,
the essential idea of Golden Ratio mathematics. Click on the picture above or below to watch the video.

My dear friend and teacher, the philosopher, antiquarian, artist and writer John Michell, passed into the Light peacefully on April 24, 2009.
The influence of this gentle, generous and brilliant man upon me and many others is incalculable.
Click on his picture for more...

Composing in the Round: Polygons in Traditional Art

Drawing The Cosmological Circle: A Practical Workshop

London, June 23, 2019

“Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.”
-- Miles Kington

Infinite Measure by Rachel Fletcher

Drawing Geometry: A Primer of Basic Forms for Artists, Designers, and Architects
by Jon Allen (Compiler) , Keith Critchlow (Foreword)

Making Geometry: Exploring Three-dimensional Forms by Jon Allen

The Hidden Geometry of Flowers: Living Rhythms, Form and Number by Keith Critchlow

Sacred Geometry by Miranda Lundy

Quadrivium: The Four Classical Liberal Arts of Number, Geometry, Music, & Cosmology
by Miranda Lundy, Anthony Ashton, Dr. Jason Martineau, Daud Sutton, John Martineau

The Elements of Music: Melody, Rhythm, and Harmony by Dr. Jason Martineau

The Golden Section: Nature's Greatest Secret by Scott Olsen

SNAP: Scaffolding for Numerical Synapses by Sheryl Nichols Morris
(Awakening Curiosity in the Numbers One to Ten)

The Mandala Book: Patterns of the Universe by Lori Bailey Cunningham

And other books of value...

The Diagonal -- edited by Jay Hambidge 1919 -- all 12 volumes together (downloadable pdf and for other media).
A great classic in Dynamic Symmetry studies!