Re: [HM] Archimedes' Box (FWD)
Rene Grognard (Rene.Grognard@tip.csiro.au)
Tue, 27 Apr 1999 16:06:54 +1000
At 04:19 am 27/04/99 , you wrote:
>>Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 12:41:53 +0500
>>From: James Butrica <jbutrica@morgan.ucs.mun.ca>
>>To: classics@u.washington.edu
>>Subject: loculus ille Archimedius
>>
>>I recently came across a reference in the metrical writer Caesius Bassus to
>>a child's educational toy (?) apparently called "Archimedes' box":
>>
>>"nam si loculus ille Archimedius, <qui> quattuordecim eboreas lamellas,
>>quarum varii anguli sunt, in quadratam formam inclusas habet, componentibus
>>nobis aliter atque aliter modo galeam, modo sicam, alias columnam, alias
>>navem figurat et innumerabiles efficit species, solebatque nobis pueris hic
>>loculus ad confirmandam memoriam prodesse plurimum, quanto maiorem poetst
>>nobis adferre voluptatem quantoque pleniorem utilitatem carmina inter manus
>>habentibus metrorum varia tractatio, cum subinde apud poetas ea quae
>>fallunt imperitos metra inserta numeris et intermixta carminibus hac arte
>>deprehendemus?"
>>
>>Apparently the box contains 14 plates (not always of ivory, I'm sure) of
>>differing shape (defined by the "varii anguli") which fold up into a square
>>inside the box (to which they are attached by hinges?) and which can be
>>opened out selectively and combined to depict (in 2 dimensions, I'm
>>assuming) a helmet, a dagger, a column, a ship and "countless" other shapes.
>>Questions: Am I understanding the basic nature of this object correctly,
>>and does anyone know of other references to it: or even depictions? And are
>>there modern toys that function similarly?
>>
>>James Lawrence Peter Butrica
>>Department of Classics
>>Memorial University
>>St. John's, Newfoundland A1C 5S7
To your question about "modern toys that function similarly", the answer is
definitely yes: the class of geometric "toys" called polyominoes.
A neat example can be found in:
http://han-en-jana.rc.tudelft.nl/somacube/somacube.htm
although in this particular "soma cube", there are 13 pieces, 12 thereof
made of 5 unit cubes ("pentominoes") and one "tetromino", that fit into a
4x4x4 cubic box. This HomePage points to another one with further links to
Internet entries describing many similar toys and their solutions (always
hard to find !)
It would be interesting to see if the Caesius Bassus' Archimedian box
better fits the description of one of these geometric toys and therefore
qualifies as a precursor of the modern polyominoes.
Best regards from
Dr R. J-M. Grognard