Jay Kappraff was an American

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of mathematics at the

New Jersey Institute of Technology {{Infobox university , name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology , image = New Jersey IT seal.svg , image_upright = 0.9 , former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Biography

Kappraff was trained in

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

physical sciences Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together called the "physical sciences". Definition Phy ...

and mathematics, earning a B.Ch.E. in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

at New York Polytechnic in 1958. He went on to be awarded a PhD in applied mathematics in 1974 from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Science,

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

and a M.S. in chemical engineering in 1960 from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

. He began work for DuPont DeNemours as a chemical engineer from 1961 to 1962 going on to teach mathematics for a brief period before obtaining a position at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

as an

aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

from 1962 until 1965. He went on to be an instructor of mathematics at the Cooper Union College,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

from 1968 until 1974. Following this, he joined the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he currently works. He was a consultant for the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-re ...

in 1976. In 1978 he developed a course in the mathematics of design for computer scientists,

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

s and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s. In bringing together such an interdisciplinary range of subjects, he began to study what he termed a ''common language'' of design and

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...

. He has been a lecturer on the relationship between

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

and

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

and published a large number or articles on subjects ranging from

plasma physics Plasma ()πλάσμα
, Henry George Liddell, R ...

solar heating A solar thermal collector collects heat by absorbing sunlight. The term "solar collector" commonly refers to a device for solar hot water heating, but may refer to large power generating installations such as solar parabolic troughs and sola ...

, aerospace engineering and

fractals In mathematics, a fractal is a geometric shape containing detailed structure at arbitrarily small scales, usually having a fractal dimension strictly exceeding the topological dimension. Many fractals appear similar at various scales, as illus ...

. He has also published a number of books on these and related subjects and compiled a series of video lectures on the science of design. In 1991 his book ''Connections'' won a prize for the best book in chemistry,

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, mathematics,

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

and reference from the

Association of American Publishers The Association of American Publishers (AAP) is the national trade association of the American book publishing industry. AAP lobbies for book, journal, and education publishers in the United States. AAP members include most of the major commercia ...

Professional activities

At the NJIT, Kapraff has organized various forums and tuition programs on subjects from Nuclear war and ancient

experimental mathematics Experimental mathematics is an approach to mathematics in which computation is used to investigate mathematical objects and identify properties and patterns. It has been defined as "that branch of mathematics that concerns itself ultimately with th ...

. he is a member of the faculty council and chairman of the NJIT

Technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and Reproducibility, reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in me ...

and

Society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

Forum committee. He is a member of the

Mathematics Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure a ...

and on the editorial board of a new interdisciplinary journal, the ''International Journal of Biological Systems''. He was also guest editor of the journal ''FORMA'' for a special issue on the golden mean in 2005.

Selected bibliography

* Kappraff, J. "Geometric Foundations of Design: Old and New". World Scientific. (2021) * Kappraff, J. "A Participatory Approach to Modern Geometry." World Scientific. (2014) * Kappraff, J. "Beyond Measure." World Scientific. (2002) * Kappraff, J. "Ancient Harmonic Law". Bridges 2007. (2007) * Kappraff, J. and McClain, E.G. "The Proportions of the Parthenon: A work of musically inspired architecture". Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography, Vol. 30/1–2 (Spring–Fall 2005) * Kappraff, J. and Adamson, G.W. Generalized Binet Formulas, Lucas Polynomials, and Cyclic Constants. FORMA vol. 19, No. 4 (2005) * Kappraff, J. and Adamson, G.W. Polygons and Chaos. Journal of Biological Systems and Geometric Theories, Vol. 2 pp 79–94 (Nov. 2004). * Kappraff, J. The Anatomy of a Bud. In Bridges:2004 edited by R. Sarhangi. Winfield, KS:Central Plains books (2004) * Kappraff, J. and Adamson, G.W. The Relationship of the Cotangent Function to Special Relativity Theory, Silver Means, ''p''-cycles, and Chaos Theory. FORMA. Vol.18, No. 3, pp 249–262 (2003) * Kappraff, J. The Anatomy of a Bud. In Bridges:2004 edited by R. Sarhangi. Winfield, KS:Central Plains books (2004) * Kappraff, J. and Adamson, G.W. Polygons and Chaos. Journal of Dynamical Systems and Geometric Theories, Vol. 2 pp 79–94 (Nov. 2004). * Kappraff, J. and McClain, E. The System of Proportions of the Parthenon: A Work of Musically Inspired Architecture. Music in Art: International Journal of Music Iconography, Vol. 30 (2005), 5-16. * Kappraff and Adamson, G.W. "Polygons and Chaos". Symmetry : Art and Science No. 1/2 (2001). * Kappraff, J. "A Secret of Ancient Geometry." In Geometry at, Work edited by C.Gorini. Mathematics Association of American Geometry MAA Notes No. 53 (2000) * Kappraff, J. "Systems of Proportion in Design and Architecture and their relationship to Dynamical Systems". In Visual Mathematics (an electronic journal). Issue 1. Feb. 1999. * Kappraff, J., Blackmore, D., and Adamson, G. "Phyllotaxis asDynamical System: A Study in Number." In Symmetry in Plants edited by R.V. Jean and D. Barabe. Singapore: World Scientific. In print (1996). * Kappraff, J. "Musical Proportions at the Basis of Architectural Proportions both Ancient and Modern." In Nexus '96 edited by K. Williams. Fuccechio: Edizioni Dell' Erba. In print (1996). * Kappraff, J. "Linking the Musical Proportions of Renaissance, the Modulor, and Roman Systems of Proportions." Space Structures, Vol. 11, Nos. 1 and 2 (1996). * Blackmore, D. and Kappraff, J. "Phyllotaxis and Toral Dynamical Systems."

Journal of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics The ''Journal of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics'', also known as ''Zeitschrift für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik'' or ''ZAMM'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal dedicated to applied mathematics. It is published by Wiley-VCH ...

(1995). * Kappraff, J. "Connections: The Geometric Bridge between Art and Science " 470 pages. New York: McGraw–Hill. 1991. * Kappraff, J. "The Spiral in Myth, Mathematics, and Nature." In Spiral Symmetry edited by I. Hargittai and C.A. Pickover. Singapore:World Scientific. 1991. * Kappraff, J. "A Course in the Mathematics of Design." In Symmetry:Unifying Human Understanding. Edited by I. Hargittai. Pergamon Press. 1986. * Kappraff, J. "The Geometry of Coastlines: A study in Fractals." In Symmetry: Unifying Human Understanding edited by I. Hargittai. Pergamon Press. 1986.

References

External links

NJIT – Professor Jay Kappraff, Department of Mathematics

youtube.com – Jay Kappraff – A new course in the mathematics of design
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kappraff, Jay 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians American non-fiction writers University of Iowa alumni Polytechnic Institute of New York University alumni People from New Jersey Living people Year of birth missing (living people)