Origami and Math--two subjects people would not usually relate to one another. But what is the real relation between them? Any serious discussion topics about this?

-Jason

My brother John is finishing up a book that is specifically on this topic. Math can relate to origami through the use of proportions and also the calculating of specific angles needed to achieve a certain fold (Robert Lang has developed a sofrware program that does just this).

When John was writing his Dollar Bill Origami books, he often mentioned how well-suited the bill was to origami because of its proportions. Also, his works on origami polyhedra are totally math-based.

In a sense, math and origami go hand-in-hand.

Here's a link to a Robert Lang talk:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/rober......ami.html

The book, Genuine Origami by Jun Maekawa actually explains several mathematical priciples while teaching some very cool models. The projects go from easy to extremely hard.

In the effect "STRETCHIT" from the book Self Working Paper Magic, an interesting geometrical prop is being mentioned. This prop converts itself from a rectangular hollow tube to a square hollow tube and vise versa.

Thomas Hull is a math teacher who combines math with origami.
His web site: http://mars.wnec.edu/~thull/