Pacific José Valdés Math Institute

Pacific Valdes Logo

The limaçon is a polar curve of the form r = b + a cos q and is also called the limaçon of Pascal (see Figure 1 below).

Figure 1: Sample Graphs of the Limaçon

It was first investigated by Dürer, who gave a method for drawing it in Underweysung der Messung (1525). It was rediscovered by Étienne Pascal, father of Blaise Pascal, and named by Gilles-Personne Roberval in 1650. The word “limaçon” comes from the Latin limax, meaning “snail.”[1]

The four limaçon figures in the Valdés logo represent four different ways students can participate in the program: Student, TA, Teacher, and Administrator. As students get older and more proficient in their math skills, they eventually can become Valdés TA’s and Teachers.

Teachers also have the ability to grow in the Valdés philosophy and can become program administrators. Throughout this process, all groups have a direct impact on each other as they serve as mathematical role models for each other.

The four limaçon figures in the logo also represent the parents, the schools, the colleges, and the surrounding community and remind us that bringing about meaningful educational change will require the continuous and cyclical participation of all of us.

Finally, the four limaçon figures in the logo represent the four directions and serve as a reminder that we are never alone when we work hard to achieve our dreams.