I just got back from Washington, where a friend of ours, a scientific illustrator, had an opening for his work at the AAAS. It is a very impressive show, with a mix of illustrations of insects, plants, dinosaurs, and extinct mammals. The attendees of the opening were a real mix. Some had a scientific background, but most were enthusiastic amateurs.
It is too bad that OR doesn’t lend itself to this sort of amateur interest. Martin Gardner‘s Mathematical Games column (and some of his successors) did appeal to the nonprofessional, and often had a strong OR flavor (that’s how I got my start). But having an exhibit, attracting a mix of people, seems unlikely.
The closest we come to this is some of the optimization art done by Robert Bosch of Oberlin (I am sure there are others, and I would like to hear about them). Bob works in dominoes, traveling salesman tours, and many other media to create art through optimization. See, in particular, his site dominoartwork.com for samples of what he does.
OK, that makes two things I want to do since I started this blog: solve world hunger through improved logistics and have an opening at a prestigious museum. Looks like this blog is going to cause more problems than it solves!
I am really excited to visit such museum.
Maybe ask Discovery Channel to do a series on various OR applications would be a good start before building a museum.
I once visit the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It is great. Maybe adding one more exhibit in it is also a good idea.