Knot Theory's Odd Origins

By Daniel S. Silver

The modern study of knots grew out of an attempt by three 19th-century Scottish physicists to apply knot theory to fundamental questions about the universe

Mathematics Physics Cosmology

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March-April 2006

Volume 94, Number 2
Page 158

DOI: 10.1511/2006.58.158

Take a length of rope, loop and weave it around itself and connect its ends. The result, of course, is a knot. Creating a knot seems simple, yet knot theory is one of the most active fields in mathematics today, yielding thousands of peer-reviewed articles over the past decade. There's even an academic journal devoted entirely to knot theory.

Juerg Alean/Stromboli Online

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