\n<\/p>\n
Ingrid Daubechies<\/a>, a mathematician at Duke University, is an expert on many matters, not least the baking of cookies in the shape of pi, the mathematical constant that equals the ratio of a circle\u2019s circumference to its diameter, or roughly 3.14159. A sugar cookie recipe works fine, Dr. Daubechies says. But she prefers a savory version with cheese (Parmigiano-Reggiano) and herbs (thyme and marjoram).<\/p>\n In the summer of 2023, Dr. Daubechies made a pi-shaped cookie cutter that tiles the plane: In principle, when this shape cuts cookies from a large sheet of dough, it generates absolutely no wasteful scraps from one cookie to the next, row upon row upon row. (The reality of crumbs makes it hard to execute this ideal perfectly, Dr. Daubechies noted.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Dr. Daubechies plans to bake pi cookies to celebrate Pi Day, which is this Friday, March 14 \u2014 3\/14. That day is also the International Day of Mathematics<\/a>; the theme in 2025 is mathematics, art and creativity.<\/p>\n For the occasion, this year Dr. Daubechies is visiting the University of Quebec in Montreal, where she will offer special tours of \u201cMathemalchemy<\/a>,\u201d a traveling multimedia math-meets-art installation that has been her constant passion (some might say obsession) for the last five years. She will also give a public talk on \u201cMathematics to the Rescue of Art Curators<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The exhibition \u2014 a 360-degree diorama of sorts, 20 feet long, 10 feet wide and nine and a half feet high \u2014 was created in collaboration with Dominique Ehrmann, a fiber sculptor from Quebec, and a team of 24 artistic mathematicians and mathematical artists. It debuted in 2022 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., and has made several stops since.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cMathemalchemy\u201d has been described as \u201ca mathematics fever dream turned artistic playground for all math lovers (and haters, too).\u201d<\/p>\n It is a fantasia fabricated in beadwork, ceramics, crochet, embroidery, knitting, leatherwork, needle felting, origami, painting, polymer clay, 3-D printing, quilting, sewing, stained glass, steel welding, light, temari, weaving, wire bending and woodworking. Last year it had an extended stay at the National Museum of Mathematics on Fifth Avenue in New York City, where one visitor on opening night felt a \u201cGrimms\u2019 fairy tale vibe.\u201d The project\u2019s official catchphrase is: \u201cMathemalchemy, where math is transforming.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n While hosted, later in 2022, by the Juniata College Museum of Art in Huntingdon, Pa., the project spawned a comic book<\/a> that has been translated into several languages. In May the exhibition goes to the Navajo Nation Museum in Arizona. The \u201cMathemalchemy\u201d group ran a fund-raiser to finance this installation, and met the goal of $25,000; donors receive their very own pi-cookie cutter as thanks.<\/p>\n At opening receptions, pi cookies are always served, often washed down with champagne.<\/p>\n