Pentagons and Pentagrams (eBook)

An Illustrated History

Eugen Jost, Eli Maor (Autoren)

eBook Download: PDF

2022
200 Seiten
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-0-691-23855-5 (ISBN)

Infos

A fascinating exploration of the pentagon and its role in various culturesThe pentagon and its close cousin, the pentagram, have inspired individuals for the last two and half millennia, from mathematicians and philosophers to artists and naturalists. Despite the pentagon's wide-ranging history, no single book has explored the important role of this shape in various cultures, until now. Richly illustrated, Pentagons and Pentagrams offers a sweeping view of the five-sided polygon, revealing its intriguing geometric properties and its essential influence on a variety of fields.Traversing time, Eli Maor narrates vivid stories, both celebrated and unknown, about the pentagon and pentagram. He discusses the early Pythagoreans, who ascribed to the pentagon mythical attributes, adopted it as their emblem, and figured out its construction with a straightedge and compass. Maor looks at how a San Diego housewife uncovered four previously unknown types of pentagonal tilings, and how in 1982 a scientist's discovery of fivefold symmetries in certain alloys caused an uproar in crystallography and led to a Nobel Prize. Maor also discusses the pentagon's impact on many buildings, from medieval fortresses to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Eugen Jost's superb illustrations provide sumptuous visual context, and the book's puzzles and mazes offer fun challenges for readers, with solutions given in an appendix.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 27.9.2022
• Zusatzinfo: 19 color + 85 b/w illus.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik ► Algebra
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik ► Geometrie / Topologie
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik ► Mathematische Spiele und Unterhaltung
• Schlagworte: Accelerating expansion of the universe • accretion disk • African Americans • algebraic equation • alloy • American Airlines Flight 77 • Andromeda Galaxy • anti-gravity • Approximation • architectural firm • Astronaut • Australian Astronomical Observatory • Bakery • Baltimore World Trade Center • Bank for International Settlements • Bargaining Power • Baryon • basic income • Bending • Black-body radiation • Black Hole • bullet hole • Calculation • Cash • Central Bank • centroid • Chapter 9 • Charles Messier • Chesapeake Bay • Color Space • Compact Star • Compass-and-straightedge construction • Competition • Cosmic distance ladder • Cosmic microwave background • Cosmic Ray • Crystal • crystallography • crystal structure • Damien Hirst • Defensive wall • detection • Deuterium • diagonal • diagram • diffraction • dodecahedron • Domestic worker • Duodecimal • Dwarf Galaxy • Earthrise • Economic History • Economic Policy • economy • Electron rest mass • Emblem • Employment • Empowerment • engraving • Equation • equilateral triangle • Estimator • Eurozone • Fermat number • Financial Crisis • Fine Art • Fort McHenry • Fractal • Fusion power • Geology of the Moon • Geometry • golden ratio • Government of the United Kingdom • Gravitational Field • Gravitational Wave • Gravity wave • hexagon • HTTPS • impact pressure • income • Industry • Infinite product • Infrastructure • Integer • International Space Station • irrational number • Jaca • Jeff Bezos • Kamchatka Peninsula • Kip Thorne • Laser • length • Leonhard Euler • light-year • Line segment • Linus Pauling • Logarithmic spiral • Lunar south pole • mathematician • Measurement • Measures of national income and output • Metal • Meteorite • milky way • millisecond • Minute and second of arc • monetary policy • Moon rock • Muon • Negative Income Tax • Neutrino • NICE • Notation • Number Theory • observable universe • optimal control • painting • Palazzo Vecchio • payout • Pentagon • Pentagonal tiling • percentage • Photon • Planetary System • Platonic solid • polyhedron • Potomac River • Prediction • private sector • Probability Distribution • Productivity • Proportionality (mathematics) • Public Finance • Quantity • Quasar • Quasicrystal • Radio Telescope • Radio Wave • Rare earth element • Rational number • Ray (optics) • rectangle • regular polygon • Requirement • Rotational Symmetry • Search Algorithm • Siberia • Solar mass • Solar neutrino • spacecraft • star formation • Star of David • State Observer • Statistic • Stellar classification • Suleiman the Magnificent • Supermassive Black Hole • Supply (economics) • symmetry • tax credit • Taxis • Technological Change • Temperature • tessellation • tetrahedron • Theorem • To the moon • Tourism • transcendental number • Trigonometry • Unemployment • Unit square • Uranus • Vibration • wage • Wavelength • Wealth • Welfare reform • X-Ray
• ISBN-10: 0-691-23855-3 / 0691238553
• ISBN-13: 978-0-691-23855-5 / 9780691238555