Object Details
maker
Richard P. Baker
Description
This string model was constructed by Richard P. Baker, long on the faculty of the University of Iowa. He believed that models were essential for the teaching of many parts of mathematics and physics, and over one hundred of his models are in the museum collections.
The blue yarn represents a curve called a twisted cubic, which cannot be contained in a plane. The tangent lines to the twisted cubic are represented by yellow threads. The mathematician Leonhard Euler had proved that the surface generated by these tangents can be flattened into a plane.
A paper tag on the bottom of the frame reads: Quartic surface (/) developable of (/) a twisted cubic. It does not include Baker's name.
Compare to 1985.0112.128 (a model by the German maker Ludwig Brill) and MA.211257.122 (a mirror image of this model, by Baker).
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Brown University Department of Mathematics
ID Number
MA.304722.29
catalog number
304722.29
accession number
304722
Object Name
Geometric Model
geometric model
Physical Description
wood (overall material)
thread (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 36 cm x 36 cm x 36 cm; 14 3/16 in x 14 3/16 in x 14 3/16 in
place made
United States: Iowa
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Mathematics
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1213864