Hungary - Mathematics and the Liberal Arts

Hungary - Mathematics and the Liberal Arts

To refine search, see subtopics Hungary in the Middle Ages and Hungary in the 1800s. To expand search, see Europe. Laterally related topics: Greece, The Roman Empire, The Celts, Medieval Europe, Germany, England, Denmark, Switzerland, Russia, Italy, France, Spain, The Etruscans, Holland /The Netherlands, and Austria.

The Mathematics and the Liberal Arts pages are intended to be a resource for student research projects and for teachers interested in using the history of mathematics in their courses. Many pages focus on ethnomathematics and in the connections between mathematics and other disciplines. The notes in these pages are intended as much to evoke ideas as to indicate what the books and articles are about. They are not intended as reviews. However, some items have been reviewed in Mathematical Reviews, published by The American Mathematical Society. When the mathematical review (MR) number and reviewer are known to the author of these pages, they are given as part of the bibliographic citation. Subscribing institutions can access the more recent MR reviews online through MathSciNet.


Bérczi, Sz. Symmetry and technology in ornamental art of old Hungarians and Avar-Onogurians from the archaeological finds of the Carpathian Basin, seventh to tenth century A.D. Symmetry 2: unifying human understanding, Part 2. Comput. Math. Appl. 17 (1989), no. 4-6, 715--730. (Reviewer: Marjorie Senechal.) SC: 01A99 (01A10 92K99), MR: 91a:01058b.

Analysis of symmetries can be very helpful in better understanding archaeological art and artifacts. The types of symmetries not only show what the author describes as "intuitive mathematical development in ornamental art" but can also help trace relationships between different communities. Such studies are now relatively new, but with time should become "an accepted, standard part of the description of archaeological finds". In this article, the author discusses how all 7 types of strip/frieze patterns occur in Old Hungarian ornamental art, and develops a notion of a double frieze pattern, which is intermediary between frieze patterns and plane patterns. A number of these patterns occur (sometimes individualized) in Avar-Onogurian artifacts. The author's classification of double frieze patterns focuses on how the patterns are generated horizontally and vertically, and may be more useful for archaeological purposes than classification by the related plane patterns. The author gives examples of some plane patterns that came up somewhat naturally, including patterns from weaving, chained ring structures, and the optimal fitting of furs (a pmg plane pattern). The author compares the frequencies of certain symmetry patterns in collections from several cultures. Closely related topics: Hungary in the Middle Ages, Frieze Patterns, Plane Patterns, Double Frieze Patterns, Archaeology, and Metal Work.

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Hargittal, István and Lengyel Györgi. The seven one-dimensional space-group symmetries illustrated by Hungarian folk needlework. Journal of Chemical Education 61 (1984), 1033.

All 7 frieze patterns can be found in Hungarian needlework. The authors give an example of each pattern. A related article by the same authors is Hargittal, István and Lengyel Györgi, The seventeen two-dimensional space-group symmetries in Hungarian folk needlework. Closely related topics: Frieze Patterns and Needlework.

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Hargittal, István and Lengyel Györgi. The seventeen two-dimensional space-group symmetries in Hungarian folk needlework. Journal of Chemical Education 62 (1985), 35--36.

The Hungarians of the late 1800s may be among the earliest people known to have "discovered" all 17plane patterns. The authors give an example of each pattern from Hungarian needlework. For the related article on frieze patterns, see Hargittal, István and Lengyel Györgi, The seven one-dimensional space-group symmetries illustrated by Hungarian folk needlework. Closely related topics: Frieze Patterns, Hungary in the 1800s, and Needlework.

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