Women, Culture and Geometry in Southern Africa

Book excerpt: New edition of award winning book "Women and Geometry in Southern Africa: Suggestions for Further Research", published by the "Universidade Pedagógica" (Mozambique) in 1995. The original book contains chapters on geometrical ideas embedded in basket weaving, bead work, wall decoration, tattooing, and ceramics. The expanded edition includes a foreword by Sibusiso Moyo (Secretary of the African Mathematical Union Commission on Women in Mathematics in Africa, and Research Director of the Durban University of Technology, South Africa), afterwords by Ubiratan D'Ambrosio (Brazil) and Jens Hoyrup (Denmark), and the papers "Makwe colour inversion, symmetry and patterns" (Northeastern Mozambique) and "Symmetries on mats woven by Yombe women from the area along the Lower Congo." The book contains also a chapter written by Salimo Saide on the geometry of pottery decoration among Yao women (Nyassa Province, Mozambique). (2013, 276 pp.)