Accession No

6051

Brief Description

mathematical string models in wooden folding case by John H. Brown; early 20th century

Origin

Maker

Brown, John H. Sunshine Technical Works

Class

mathematics

Earliest Date

1900

Latest Date

1950

Inscription Date

Material

wood (two types); metal (brass; stainless steel); cardboard; string (two types)

Dimensions

630mm by 402mm; thickness 40mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Purchased from Trevor Philip & Sons Ltd, 75a Jermyn Street, St James’s, London, SW1Y 6NP, England on or before 8/9/2005.

Inscription

“ILLUSTRATIONS OF DESCRIPTIVE GEOMETRY
to show the relation between the projections traces and inclinations of a straight line.
to show two intersecting lines and the angle between them.” (on top panel)
“John H. Brown
Sunshine
Technical Works” (stamped into bottom right corner of bottom panel)

Description Notes

mathematical string models in wooden folding case by John H. Brown; early 20th century

Wooden panels, comprised of a dark and light wood, open like a book on four steel hinges, with brass supports that snap into a locked position.

The model to the left is a black string held in place by 4 (originally 6) thinner white strings. Coloured lines on the cardboard backing illustrate the projections and inclinations of the line.

The model to the right is two black strings that touch when the case is fully opened. Their point of intersection would originally have had two white strings joining it to the horizontal and vertical cardboard backings.

Condition: fair, noting damp stains to the cardboard and slight warping to the lighter wood; complete but four of the white strings are no longer attached.

References

Events

Description
These models would be used as a teaching aid for students of geometry. A common difficulty students find with geometry is visualising the problem in three dimensions. The mathematical string models demonstrate the prinicples behind the projection of a line onto a plane, and how to calcualte the angle between two intersecting lines.

[James Hyslop, 19/9/2005]
23/10/2023
Created by: Morgan Bell on 23/10/2023

Description
Making mathematical models was an integral part of a mathematician’s research in the late nineteenth century; however, the role of models as a central feature of mathematical research became less pronounced in the first decades of the twentieth century. The practice of constructing mathematical models (like this string model) originated with Gaspard Monge (1746–1818) who invented descriptive geometry, which represented three-dimensional surfaces in two dimensions. He also worked at classifying ruled surfaces. In modeling, tightly stretched strings following the path of a generated line best described a ruled surface according to Monge. He and his student Théodore Olivier (1793–1853) designed and built such models. This model by John H. Brown shows “the relation between the projections traced and inclinations of a straight line”. The model was produced by Sunshine Technical Works.

11/03/2014
Created by: Allison Ksiazkiewicz on 11/03/2014

FM:46520