DIGITAL SANGAKU

(Part II)

By Jean Constant

Summary of contents

Foreword Gallery Acknowledgments General References Problem solutions

2012 Hermay CSV. All rights reserved. www.hermay.org

asan geometry or traditional Japanese mathematics flourished under the Tokugawa shogunate around the Edo period. It expressed itself in a unique way through mathematical votive pictures of many sizes and shapes called San-Gaku and on which mathematicians etched new mathematical problems. As Z.M. Ruttkay pointed out in A Sangaku Revived, most such problems were of a geometric nature and the figures were often exquisite in style and in color. The displays were dedicated to a shrine or a temple and left for the viewer to solve. This tradition slowly disappeared and today less than a thousand Sangaku have survived abandon or destruction. The following is Part II of a selection of Sangaku problems revisited in todays digital environment to highlight the strength and consistency of visualizations based on fundamental principles of geometry. The thumbnails adjacent to the larger image describe the process I used to complete the final composition: a) outline extraction from the original Sangaku b) monochrome surface build to develop shape, volume and texture. c) color scheme d) blending of the intermediary stages at different level of opacity to complete a full color visualization. The mathematical part of the Sangaku examples I selected has been explored and defined by other in much better terms than I could ever do. I gathered at the end of the gallery various relevant resource I used for this project to encourage the reader interested in the mathematical aspect of the subject to look further into it. As an artist, it has been an exceptional privilege and an inspiration to develop visual statements based on simple mathematical forms originated many years ago by people we still know so little about. Jean Constant Santa Fe, 2007-2011

11 - Study of Pythagorean triangles . Find the radius of (K) tangent to (A), (B) and AB. [11].

12 - Study of Pythagorean triangles (2) : triangles FCJ, HGJ, FGK, AKE, AEI, DFI, and ABH are all 3:4:5 triangles. [12].

13 - Determine the relative radii of the circles. The solution can be found using the Rope-stretchers triangle or the Egyptian triangle. method. [13].

14 - AT = 24. AI = 20, IT = 4 = IQ. The circle (I) of radius 4 is tangent to (A), (B), (F), and (E). If AT is extended further and R on AT is on the vertical tangent SR to (I), then, IRS is similar to AEI and has a proportion 3:4:5. [14].

15 - This configuration was noted by L. Bankoff and C. W. Trigg after a 1998 Scientific American article, featuring numerous sightings of the famous 3:4:5 triangle. [15].

16 - Aichi Prefecture, 1877. ABCD is a square of side a, and M is the centre of a circle with diameter AB; CA and DB are arcs of circles of radius a and centers D and C respectively. Find the radius, r1; of the circle centre O, inscribed in the area common to these circles. [16].

17 - Two equilateral triangles are inscribed into a square. Their side lines cut the square into a quadrilateral and a few triangles. Find a relationship between the radii of the two incircles. [17].

18 - Three small congruent circles, two of which lie in the curvilinear triangles made by the two external tangents and the medium circle. The other lies in one of the curvilinear triangles made by the two larger circles and one of the external tangents. The ratio of the size of the two larger circles is 2:1. If there are two externally touching circles with different radii with external common tangents and if there are 4n congruent small circles, n of which lie in the curvilinear triangle made by the two external tangents and the medium circle, and 3n of which lie in one of the curvilinear triangles made by the two larger circles and one of the external tangents, then the ratio of the size of the two larger circles is 4:1 for any natural number n - in this figure n = 1, 2. [18].

19 - A triangle ABC is inscribed in a circle O (R). In ABC, circles O2 (r), O4 (r1), O5 (r2), etc... are tangent one after another. The circles O1 (t1), O3 (t3) touch the circle O (R) and touch chords AC and BC. Find r1, r2, r3,.... in terms of t1, t2 and r. [19].

20 - Fractal image based on the fact that the ratio of the size of the two inscribed circles in the problem is 2:1. [20].

ACKNOWLEGMENTS I would like to acknowledge Dr. T. Rothman & Mr. F. Hidetoshi for having introduced me to the world of Sangaku and supported my effort in this project; Mr. Alexander Bogomolny, without whom I could not have completed the mathematical part of it; Mr. Urabe who hosted me in his Mathematics Museum; Dr. Richard Palais, Dr. Anna Ursyn, and the many who were an inspiration and guiding force through the development of this project. GENERAL REFERENCES - Bankoff, L. Trigg, C. W. The Ubiquitous 3:4:5 Triangle. Math Magazine, v 47, n 2 pp. 61-70. 3-1974. - Birrane, Ed. Japanese Mathematical Development during the Edo Period. Loyola University. Maryland. 2002. - Boas, Harold P. Reflections on the Arbelos. American Mathematical Monthly 113 no. 3 pp 236249. 3-2006 - Bogomolny, A. Sangaku: Reflections on the Phenomenon. www.cut-the-knot.org/pythagoras/Sangaku. shtml. 2007. - Fukagawa, H & Pedoe, D. Japanese Temple Geometry Problems. Charles Babbage. Research Centre. Winnipeg, CND. 1989. - Fukagawa, H. & Rothman, T. Japanese Temple Geometry. Princeton University. NJ. 2008. - Okumura, H. Circle patterns arising from results in Japanese geometry. Symmetry: Culture and Science 8, Number 1, 4-23. 1997. - Okumura, H. Geometries in the East and the West in the 19th century. Symmetry: Culture and Science 9, Number 1-2, 189-197. 1999. - Peterson, I. Temple circles. Mathematical Association of America. 2001. - Ruttkay, Z.M. A Sangaku revived. In: Bridges Leeuwarden, Mathematics, Music, Art, Architecture, Culture Conference Proceedings Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. 7- 2008. - Rigby, J. Traditional Japanese geometry. SCT Press, Singapore. 2002. - International Society for Mathematical Sciences. http://www.jams.or.jp/ - Mathematics Museum. http://mathmuse.sci.ibaraki.ac.jp/indexE.html

PROBLEMS SOLUTION The Sangaku problems explored in this gallery have been the object of numerous authoritative papers by academics and mathematicians. I would encourage readers interested in the mathematical aspect of the Sangaku tradition to consult each authors material for more detailed information on each particular problem. [11] A. Bogomolny. The Egyptian triangle (Part I). Interactive Mathematics. www.cut-the-knot.org [12] A. Bogomolny. The Egyptian triangle (Part II). Interactive Mathematics. www.cut-the-knot.org [13] A. Bogomolny. The Egyptian triangle (Part III). Interactive Mathematics. www.cut-the-knot.org [14] A. Bogomolny. The Egyptian triangle (Part VI). Interactive Mathematics. www.cut-the-knot.org [15] L. Bankoff, C. W. Trigg, The Ubiquitous 3:4:5 Triangle, Math Magazine, v 47, pp. 61-70. 3-1974. [16] Jill & Claire Vincent. Japanese temple geometry. Australian Senior - Mathematics Journal; Vol. 18, Issue 1. 2004. [17] H. Fukagawa, D. Pedoe. Japanese Temple Geometry. Charles Babbage Research Foundation, Winnipeg, Canada. 1989. [18] H. Okumura, M. Watanabe. Tangent circles in the ratio 2 : 1. Canadian Mathematical Society. 1999. [19] Jill & Claire Vincent. Japanese temple geometry. Australian Senior Mathematics Journal; Vol. 18, Issue 1.2004. [20] H. Okumura. Japanese Mathematics. Ethnomathematics Digital Library. www.ethnomath.org

Each artwork is available in printed format, size 20x20,canvas or 220 g., archival fine art paper, numbered 1-10. A virtual gallery and a multimedia animation are also available for viewing on Hermay.org website at www.hermay.org/jconstant/wasan/

 2012 Hermay CSV Original artwork by Jean Constant. www.hermay.org/jconstant