Women, Art and Geometry in Southern Africa received "Special Commendation" in the 1996 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. The book was praised by the jury for "combining in an indigenous way the study of geometry with that of the visual arts, presenting an important challenge and stimulant to the future of mathematics in relation to gender and race, and erases the borders between mathematics and popular culture as experienced in the work and crafts of women in South Africa. The book's importance lies in its prospective impact on the education of African women in mathematics."
Africa needs to awaken and nurture its magnificent creative potential. African women, constituting half of the population, are strongly under-represented in scientific and technological careers where mathematics plays an important role. Women themselves appear to lack the confidence to take up studies in the science fields that have been considered male domains in Europe and throughout colonial Africa. Ironically, however, outside this context, Southern African women have traditionally been involved in cultural activities - such as ceramics, beading, mural decoration, mat and basket weaving, hair braiding, tattooing, string figures - which bear a striking artistic and mathematical character.
The main objective of the book is to call attention to some mathematical ideas incorporated in the patterns invented by women of Southern Africa. An appreciation of these mathematical traditions may lead to their preservation, revival and development. Use of female art traditional forms has implications in the field of mathematics education.
A travers les activités artistiques et artisanales des femmes d'Afrique australe la mise en lumière de concepts mathématiques et de figures et modèles géométriques
Paulus Gerdes, scientifique mozambicain, préside, depuis 1986, au sein de l'Union Mathématique Africaine, la Commission d'Histoire des Mathématiques en Afrique (AMUCHMA). Il a été secrétaire général de l'Association des Sciences Mathématiques pour l'Afrique Australe (1991-1995). Après avoir enseigné de 1977 à 1989 à l'Université Eduardo Mondlane (Maputo), il a été professeur et recteur à l'Université pédagogique au Mozambique (1989-1996) et professeur chercheur à l'Université de Géorgie aux Etats-Unis (1996-1998). Il est maintenant directeur de recherche au Centre de recherche ethnomathématique - Culture, mathématique, éducation, créé en 1998 à Maputo. Trois de ses précédents ouvrages, Une tradition géométrique en Afrique les dessins sur le sable (1995, 3 tomes), Femmes et Géométrie en Afrique australe (1996) et Récréations géométriques d'Afrique - Lusona - Geometrical recreations of Africa (1997) ont déjà été publiés aux éditions L'Harmattan.