JoinScience Sampler: The Science and Art of Proportionality
The following activities ask students to compare the proportions of their own bodies with each other and with historical models, specifically with Polycleitus’ statue of Doryphorus (fifth century B.C.). The statue was created as an example of what Polycleitus' thought to be the ideal mathematical proportions for human body parts, which he described in his Canon. The inquiry-based activities, which combine art, science, and math, reinforce the concepts of scale, ratio, proportions, and anatomical function.