Many of us have had need to wrap presents in the last few weeks, but maybe only some of us waited until early this morning on December 25 to start wrapping their children’s gifts. (Yours truly, ahem).
The discipline of intentionally folding paper into different shapes is known as origami because this practiced flourished so notably in Japan. Origami is a Japanese compound word stemming from “oru”/fold and “kami”/paper. But the practice actually came to Japan from China (where it was called “zhezhi” and is documented from 200 CE) sometime after Buddhist monks brought paper in the 6th century.
This picture comes from the an early instruction booklet written in 1797 by Akisato Tito called “How to fold one thousand cranes” _Hiden Senbazazuru Orikata_, an early testimony to the famous folding of cranes for good luck.
Origami grew in popularity in Europe after German kindergartens included it in their curriculum, but it was only in the 20th century that it’s reputation as an artistic practice was cemented.
Now, of course, the art of origami is also a mathematical discipline. It was employed in the creation of the James Webb Telescope (second picture), launched today — the 18 mirrors were designed to unfold in the next two weeks in the most effective and efficient origami-style possible.
