# Mathematica **Full Title:** _Mathematica: A World of Numbers... and Beyond_ **Domain:** Exhibition / Mathematics / Design **Doc Type:** Source-Work Node **Maturity:** Developed **Related:** [[Charles and Ray Eames]], [[Eames Office]], [[IBM]], [[IBM Pavilion]], [[Powers of Ten]] --- ## Definition **Mathematica** is the large-scale interactive exhibition created by the Eames Office for a science wing that opened in Los Angeles in 1961 with IBM support. It translated abstract mathematical relations into physical demonstrations, images, timelines and participatory encounters. ## Corpus Function The exhibition established a design method later extended into the [[IBM Pavilion]] and [[Powers of Ten]]: abstraction becomes accessible when it is spatialized and encountered through the body. It is therefore an important ancestor of the [[Civilian Cockpit|civilian cockpit]] and [[Receiving Theater|receiving theater]]. [[articles/Beyond the Sea|Beyond the Sea]] treats Mathematica as part of the design grammar that made computation feel continuous with curiosity rather than opposed to human experience. ## Key Insight **Mathematica turned mathematical relation into an environment before graphical computing made such environments commonplace.** ## Sources / Provenance - Eames Office: https://www.eamesoffice.com/the-work/mathematica/ - IBM history: https://www.ibm.com/history/math-science-popularization