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Unicorn in Captivity: Science Helping Art

In partnership with:
Museum of Science, Boston
With support from: Lowell Institute
Date and time
Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Brothers David and Gregory Chudnovsky discuss their contribution to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Unicorn Tapestries project. To create an exact visual reproduction of one of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Unicorn Tapestries, digital cameras photographed every inch. When the hundreds of digital photographic files didn't fit smoothly together, the Chudnovsky brothers, co-directors of the Institute for Mathematics and Advanced Supercomputing, were brought in to solve the mystery. Art and science have continually flirted over the centuries. Both investigate. Both involve theories and transforming information into something else. This lecture is a part of a Museum of Science series "When Science Meets Art", which examines the mysterious symbiosis of science with art through the ingenuity of those shattering the boundaries between the two fields.

David_Chudnovsky.jpg
David Chudnovsky
David Chudnovsky is a mathematician. David Chudnovsky works closely with and assists his brother Gregory, who suffers from Myasthenia Gravis, a disorder of neuromuscular transmission leading to fluctuating weakness and fatigue. The Chudnovsky Brothers are mathematicians known for their wide-ranging mathematical abilities, their home-built supercomputers, and their close working relationship. The Chudnovsky Brothers have held records, at different times, for computing Pi to over two billion digits a feat accomplished in the early 1990s on a supercomputer they built in their Brooklyn apartment.
Gregory_Chudnovsky.jpg
Gregory Chudnovsky
Gregory Chudnovsky is a mathematician with an interest in number theory. Gregory works closely with his brother, David Chudnovsky, who is also a mathematician. The Chudnovsky Brothers are mathematicians known for their wide-ranging mathematical abilities, their home-built supercomputers, and their close working relationship. A 1992 article in The New Yorker quoted several mathematicians' opinions that Gregory Chudnovsky has one of the top mathematical minds alive today. David Chudnovsky works closely with and assists his brother Gregory, who suffers from Myasthenia Gravis, a disorder of neuromuscular transmission leading to fluctuating weakness and fatigue. The Chudnovsky Brothers have held records, at different times, for computing Pi to over two billion digits a feat accomplished in the early 1990s on a supercomputer they built in their Brooklyn apartment.
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