Having an Edge
Polyhedra: beauty counts.
Hermann Weyl (1885–1955)
The mathematics of regular and semi-regular polyhedra is very extensive, the list of its technical applications however is quite moderate. According to the Greek philosopher Plato, the importance of geometry does not lie in its practical usefulness. But what then is its importance? There must be reasons why famous mathematicians, philosophers and artists such as Pythagoras, Plato, Archimedes, Euclid, Leonardo da Vinci, Johannes Kepler, Leonhard Euler, and Maurits Cornelis Escher worked in this field.
«Mathematics is beautiful» can be read in the reception area of this exhibition. This statement may have woken your scepticism, maybe even gave you reason to object. Perhaps, reconciliation can be achieved here at the latest, in view of the many shapes and symmetries of these objects. One of them – the truncated icosahedron – is the most kicked-around object in the world. Stay on the ball, and you will learn more on that too.
