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Navigating Four Dimensions

Plane of a world map
(Image via Pixabay, Creative Commons CC0)

In curved spaces, geometry can play tricks on you. And tricky geometry lies at the heart of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. I wrote a feature for Lateral Magazine mapping out a geometric way of teaching relativity.

 

At the heart of the article lies the observation that the geometry of a world map is remarkably similar to the geometry of spacetime. I have interviewed Rolf Steier, a learning scientist at the University of Oslo, about how to foster understanding for abstract concepts of four-dimensional spacetime.

 

I think it is pretty exciting to see how science educators are using maps as models for teaching general relativity. 🌏

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