Reported by Mitchell Kabakow for Flatiron Hot! News

Summer is here and the days are at their longest. In celebration of the summer solstice on June 21^st, the National Museum of Mathematics set up a giant sundial in the middle of the Flatiron Public Plaza, just one block away from the New York City Seminar and Conference Center. During the event, which took place from 7:30 am to 6:30 pm, participants could step onto the giant sundial and mark the position of their shadow. The sundial will be hung in the MoMath museum until the end of June for all to see. The free event was a great way to teach kids about astronomy and mathematics as well as a fun event for the community.

Located at 11 East 26th Street, MoMath is one of the only museums in the United States dedicated entirely to mathematics. The museum has hosted a number of entertaining and educational events this summer. Every first Wednesday of the month MoMath holds a free public presentation series called Math Encounters. Past topics have included “From Fairy Tales to Finite Elements: How Mathematics Connects with Fiction” and “Math for Democracy: The Mathematics of Voting Redistricting”. Some upcoming topics include “Diffusion of the Dead” and “Deep Math: Between Combinatorics and Chocolate”. The museum also hosts Family Fridays presented by Two Sigma which includes a number of math-based activities designed to promote interest and enthusiasm for mathematics. The presentations are assessible to audiences of all ages and past topics have included “The Math of Winning” and “Playful Geometry”. For more information on the National Museum of Mathematics you can visit their website at momath.org.