13 March 2024 · 3:00–4:30 p.m. · Bfm Aurence-Corgnac, Limoges, France

A Journey Through Time: The Secret Mathematics of the Babylonians

A public outreach lecture for middle-school and high-school students and their families, exploring how remarkably advanced Babylonian mathematics was more than 4,000 years ago.

The painting was created live during the lecture. The event also included a hands-on workshop in which children made their own clay tablets and inscribed them with cuneiform symbols.

About the artwork

This painting celebrates the Babylonian contribution to the history of mathematics. At its centre stands a clay tablet inscribed with ancient cuneiform symbols, evoking the civilization’s advances in numeration. Around it, the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon recall the mathematical ingenuity expressed in agriculture and architecture. A star-filled night sky highlights the close relationship between Babylonian mathematics and astronomy, while the historical motifs framing the composition preserve the memory of this intellectual legacy. The artwork pays tribute to Babylonian civilization and to its pioneering role in shaping mathematical foundations that remain influential today.

1 December 2020 · Online presentation via Zoom

A History of Convexity and the Five Platonic Solids

An online science outreach presentation created with Reg Alcorn and broadcast via Zoom during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The lecture explored the history of convexity through the five Platonic solids and their place in ancient Greek philosophy. The tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, and icosahedron were associated respectively with fire, earth, air, and water, while the dodecahedron represented the ether and the universe as a whole.

About the artwork

This vivid painting places the five Platonic solids at the heart of a cosmic composition. On the left, a figure recalling Plato emerges beside flames and a tetrahedron representing fire. Nearby, other figures appear to study and teach the relationship between geometry and the universe. Swirling rings and celestial orbs evoke planetary motion and the ancient harmony of the spheres. The contrast between precise geometric forms, expressive flames, and a dark background suggests that these perfect solids are fundamental building blocks of cosmic order.

7 November 2019

Optimization Through History: Its Evolution and Development

Optimization in everyday life, its history, and the professions that have emerged from it.

In this public lecture, Samir Adly traced the history of optimization from the principle of least action and the early development of the calculus of variations to the present day. Through examples, he showed how optimization supports many areas of science, then discussed the developments that followed the Second World War, including George Dantzig’s simplex algorithm, the close relationship with operations research, and more recent connections with artificial intelligence and large-scale data processing. The final part of the lecture focused on careers in optimization and their links with industry.

Throughout the lecture, Reg Alcorn painted live in dialogue with the presentation.

About the artwork

This dynamic cityscape brings the historical roots of mathematics into a contemporary technological world. On the left, Al-Khwarizmi—whose name gave rise to the word “algorithm”—overlooks the scene. Mathematical equations and trajectories in the foreground recall the calculus of variations, while binary code, screens, traffic, and the dense movement of the city evoke the algorithms that organize modern life. The painting connects the long history of mathematical ideas with optimization, operations research, artificial intelligence, data processing, and today’s industrial world.

14 March 2019 · Perpignan, France

Optimization Through Convex Geometric Forms

A public outreach lecture for scientists, university students, and middle-school and high-school students, exploring optimization through geometry, nature, architecture, and art.

Optimization is present throughout everyday life: we seek to reduce effort or loss, increase gains, find the shortest route, and design the best shape under given constraints. Nature itself often appears to optimize quantities. The lecture explored the history, mathematical properties, and scientific applications of several optimal geometric forms through questions about the curve enclosing the greatest area for a fixed perimeter, the stacking of oranges, the hexagonal shape of honeycomb cells, and a geometric figure capable of producing square holes.

Throughout the lecture, Reg Alcorn painted live in dialogue with the presentation.

About the artwork

The painting brings together many geometric expressions of optimization. Honeycomb patterns recall the efficiency of hexagonal cells, while clusters of circles and spheres evoke packing problems such as the arrangement of oranges. Polyhedra, curved boundaries, and tilings suggest the search for optimal shapes under constraints. At the centre, a geometric passage opens onto an architectural landscape, linking abstract mathematics with structures found in nature, art, science, and the built environment.

21 May 2015 · TerryFest 2015 Gala Dinner · Limoges, France

A Very Mathematical Aperitif

A live painting performance during the gala dinner of TerryFest 2015, the International Conference on Variational Analysis, Optimization and Quantitative Finance held in honour of R. Tyrrell Rockafellar’s 80th birthday.

About the artwork

The central world map celebrates the international character of TerryFest: the trajectories represent the many destinations from which participants travelled, all converging on Limoges. Around the map, bottles and laboratory glassware are transformed into playful mathematical objects, carrying equations and references to optimization. The large flask suggests mathematical ideas being mixed, distilled, and shared. By combining the convivial atmosphere of a gala aperitif with the language of variational analysis and optimization, the painting pays tribute both to the scientific community gathered in Limoges and to the exchange of ideas that brought it together.