Accession No
6603
Brief Description
tennis ball with additional lines marked on for exploring Venn diagrams, by Anthony Edwards, English, 1988 (c)
Origin
England
Maker
Edwards, Anthony
Class
mathematics
Earliest Date
1985
Latest Date
1988
Inscription Date
Material
plastic (rubber); nylon(?)
Dimensions
686 mm diameter
Special Collection
Provenance
Donated by an individual on or before 21/05/2015.
Inscription
Description Notes
Tennis ball with additional lines marked on for exploring Venn diagrams, by Anthony Edwards, English, c. 1988.
Tennis ball with additional lines marked on, demonstrating Anthony Edwards’ method of exploring Venn diagrams of four or more sets with ease compared to the difficulty of expanding two-dimensional representations of Venn diagrams beyond three sets. The concept is such that the number of sets can be increased continually, only limited by the decreasing area available on the ball for new lines.
Tennis ball is a standard tennis ball, original curves and new lines marked over in dark blue-green ink by Edwards.
Complete.
References
Events
Description
This c. 1988 repurposed tennis ball is also a three-dimensional model demonstrating the possibility of infinite Venn diagram sets. Cambridge statistician Anthony Edwards worked with frustration over two-dimensional Venn diagrams with a limited capacity for four sets. He noted that by continually dividing a sphere with a curved line identical to the pattern on a tennis ball it was possible to create a Venn diagram of infinite and more equally-sized sets – particularly if the vector was computer-generated. Then, the flat planes of the sphere could be projected to create a symmetrical two-dimensional model.
Adapted from Why is this Here? label, November 2016.
25/11/2016
Created by: Rosanna Evans on 25/11/2016
FM:47121
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