Joseph Rosenfeld was looking at the exhibit at the Museum of Science—an exhibit more than twice his own age—when he saw it.When the Virginia high schooler recently
came to Boston on a family trip, he visited the museum with his aunts.
Joseph noticed the error in an equation for the Golden Ratio, part of the “Mathematica: A World of Numbers...and Beyond” exhibit. There were minus signs where there should be plus signs.
“It was cool,” Joseph told Boston.com. “At first, I wasn’t sure, I thought maybe I had it wrong, but I was excited.”
The Mathematica exhibit was created by
design team Charles and Ray Eames, and has been at the museum since
1981. The pair made their name in the architecture and furniture design
worlds, and
created the exhibit to “provide an opportunity for everyone
to enjoy the wonder of mathematics as well as the beauty of post-modern
design,” according to the Museum of Science website.
Joseph noticed the mistake and left a
message at the front desk, but didn’t leave any contact information,
according to Joseph’s father, Scott Rosenfeld. Joseph’s aunts contacted
the museum, which then sent a letter to the family.
“You are right that the formula for the
Golden Ratio is incorrect. We will be changing the – sign to a + sign on
the three places it appears if we can manage to do it without damaging
the original,” Alana Parkes, the museum’s exhibit content developer,
wrote in the letter.
On Tuesday, the Museum of Science released
a statement commending Rosenfeld for his keen eye, while explaining
that “the way the Museum presents the Golden Ratio in its exhibit is in
fact the less common—but no less accurate—way to present it.”
Joseph said he double-checked himself before leaving the comment.
“An unusual thing about Mathematica is
that the whole exhibition is considered an artifact,” Parkes wrote.
“This means that decisions about everything in the exhibition requires
both Curatorial and Content Development consent (and most things can’t
be changed at all). It also means that this mistake has been there for a
very long time.”
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