A Triumphant Marriage of Mathematics, Art, and Music!
That’s what I wrote in our marketing copy for one of the finest fulldome shows I have ever seen: Chaos and Order: A Mathematic Symphony. And, I had good reason to. It takes viewers on a romp through mathematics—the language of science.
Math provides the underpinnings that help all scientists—astronomers, biologists, chemists, engineers, physicists, and physicians—understand objects and processes in the cosmos. It’s also a subject that gets a lot of bad press from people who are afraid of it. This show demonstrates that there’s nothing to fear and everything to enjoy!
When I first saw Chaos and Order on our dome, it only took me about two minutes to just fall in love with the beautiful way it approaches a subject all of us should know about. We immediately contacted the producer in Germany and arranged to market the show in the United States.
Why did I have such a strong reaction? Well, for one thing, I know that many of us fulldome producers are extending the definition of the types of science education shows that can be shown on the dome. A fulldome show like this one combines math, animation, and music, making it a true multi-disciplinary video that educators in those disciplines could use with their students.
Graphing the complexity of a Lorentz attractor in Chaos and Order. Courtesy Rocco Helmchen.
For another, math is one of those subjects that really scares people, and it shouldn’t. I remember my own early fears of math, and when I saw this show, I thought to myself, “Where was this movie when I was first learning algebra, geometry, and calculus?” I think that the gorgeous visualizations that the show uses to bring equations to life would really help those who have to “visualize” their math as they learn it. I know it would have done that for me.
As we watched it on the dome, Mark pointed out the exquisite choreography, and the subtle sound effects added to Johannes Kraas’s music to enhance the visuals. Creating the visuals for the dome space is hard enough, but to move them in synchrony with the music to make the artistry of the dance—that’s where the genius lies.
The show just resonated with me for other reasons I have a hard time explaining. But that’s okay. That’s the nature of good entertainment, and you don’t always have to explain why something appealed to you. I continue to enjoy watching it, and I hope that our fulldome clients and their audiences will find it as thrilling as I do.
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