Pi Are Square

The newest kid on the  NYC museum block is the Museum of Mathematics or Momath as it cutely styles itself. That and the Pi  symbol used as the building’s doorknobs (above) are the cutest things about this place that left me and my companion more than a little dazed and confused.

“You shouldn’t come here and leave feeling more mathematically challenged than before,” she remarked and how right she was.

In fairness, several exhibits on the ground floor are fun, including the Coaster Rollers in which you sit and wheel yourself over acorn-like shapes 

The “acorns” the Coaster Roller rolls over

that somehow permit a smooth ride; the square-wheeled trike lumbering on an angled ground and the Tracks of Galileo where you adjust a curve and race a “car” to the bottom. Fun, yes, but I couldn’t glom onto the mathematical concept behind any of them and isn’t that the point of the museum? Too many exhibits required a lot of explaining from one of the yellow-shirted staff (probably all math geeks who are thrilled to work here).  Another frustration is that many exhibits are “coming soon”; fail to function correctly or are worn or missing pieces (not a good track record for an institution that’s been open only one year).

On the plus side, I loved the Human Tree (arm waving produces interesting effects) and

Human Tree–do not ask me to explain the math

the Math Square where you walk on a lighted computer set into the floor.  If money were no object these would be a hoot for the home although you’d probably tire of them quickly.

Rush Hour, a traffic jam logic game played on a table, gives visitors the chance to mimic NJ’s Governor Christie and make their own little Ft. Lee.

Math and I have never been exactly close friends going back to high school when my math teacher gently suggested I quit the subject and take a fifth year of Latin to show college admissions directors I was capable of linear thinking.

Along with directions that don’t quite explain the task at hand and graphics featuring white letters on a pale gray ground, this museum might be worth the stiff admission price ($20 for an adult)  for math nuts. Personally, I’ll take MOMA any day.

This is a recipe for –what else–Pie, in this case Chocolate Whiskey Pie:

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Ingredients

1 cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup light brown sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons whiskey

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups pecan halves

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

9-inch basic flaky piecrust, unbaked (yes, horrors, a store-bought crust. If you know how to make a piecrust, by all means go ahead but this will work fine.  Let it soften just a tad and transfer to your own pie dish for that “did it myself” look.)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Whisk together corn syrup, brown sugar, butter, eggs, whiskey, and salt; fold in pecans and chocolate chips.

Pour mixture into the piecrust and bake until the center is set but still slightly wobbly, 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool before serving. Want to challenge eaters to divide the pie into isosoles triangles? Have fun.