King Don Jon: Mathematics

Polyhedra

I have become interested in polyhedra recently.
I have some small platonic crystals, some lovely solid stone cuboctohedrons and an obsidian tetrahedron.

Solid Starred Rhombicosidodecahedron

This interest reminded me of an idea I had when I was about nine years old. At home there was a Time-Life book of Mathematics which included many subjects I found fascinating. In particular there was a picture of a complex polyhedron which I decided I could make. I knew about simple nets to make tetrahedra, cubes etc and after much time/thought I worked out the net for a Rhomibicosidodecahedron. I purchased some cartridge paper (from Crawfords paint/art shop), drew out the net and glued it together. The final stage was to make some three, four and five-sided pyramids which were glued on to the surface.

The resulting object was about 18" in diameter and looked very impressive. I was proud of the result and kept it for a few years, although unfortunately no pictures of it remain.

Time-Life

The Time-Life Mathematics book was very accessible, easy to read with plenty of informative illustrations. It inspired my interest in Mathematics and of late I have become obsessed with finding a copy. Although I recalled its title was "Mathematics" I didn't have much recollection of what it was but eventually found it was a "Time-Life" book (I had imagined it was from Readers Digest).

In December I discovered its author is David Bergamini and found a copy on the Internet Archive which I could look through. There were numerous pages, particularly pictures that I clearly remembered I decided I must obtain a copy.

The book was first published in 1963 with a later edition in 1969. In 1963 I was six so it must have been that edition that my family owned which I remember. There was a copy on sale on ebay in America and luckily as Harry and Leah were in California at the time they were able to buy it for me and bring it back with them.