The Mathematical Garden

The Mathematical Garden is the Museum of Science and Technology’s new playground, where the world of maths can be explored through play – it is full of fun, free to use and is open around the clock.

Enjoy the beautiful surroundings of Djurgården! On your way to the National Museum of Science and Technology you can enjoy amazing sculptures that pop up along the Djurgårdsbrunn’s Canal. Make your way up from the water side and explore our Mathematical Garden. If you want to cool off for a while, you are welcome inside the museum to explore our exhibitions.

The Mathematical Garden provides a fun experience where you can discover that mathematics is to be found everywhere – in nature, art, music and technology – in the form of patterns, symmetry, golden ratios, numerical sequences and fractals.

Things to explore in the Mathematical Garden

Among other things, the playground features a slide in the shape of a nautilus shell, a triangular climbing web, fraction columns, a fence inspired by the Koch curve, a hopscotch court with a very special sequence of numbers, and a tortoise featuring a magic square in its shell.

There are also xylophones and a dance mat, illustrating the mathematical relationship that exists between different tones. The cultivation boxes are home to sunflowers and daisies, where the proportions and fractals of the golden ratio are reproduced in every flower, and the roof of the gazebo is formed to reflect branches that follow Fibonnaci’s number sequence. The golden ratio’s spiral form permeates the entire garden, and mathematical relationships can be seen everywhere.

Some of the things you can try

• Try to solve our puzzling mazes – they may look simple but they’re trickier than you think.
• Play on different musical instruments – here you can also discover how tones and fractions are related to each together.
• Go on the slide – it is inspired by the shape of a nautilus shell, which is just one example of beautiful mathematical shapes found throughout the natural world.
• Jump on the fraction columns and find out if you can see how different numbers are related.
• Climb to the top of the gigantic climbing web. This contains many geometric shapes, the strongest of which is the triangle.
• Test how a parabola works – whisper into it and see if your friend at the parabola opposite can hear you.