H.S.M. Coxeter,
1907-2003
The twentieth century's preeminent classical geometer and mathematician of polyhedra,
Prof. H.S.M. Coxeter researched and wrote at length on polyhedra
and polytopes (higher-dimensional generalizations of polyhedra). This previously
unpublished photo shows Prof. Coxeter (left) and me (right) examining a
few of the constructions at the 1984 conference "Shaping Space" at Smith
College, Northhampton, Massachusetts. (The room was filled with hundreds
of other polyhedra, as well.)
Professor Coxeter's bio
is online at the University of Toronto, and there are related articles about
him in the web
pages of great Canadian scientists and The
Globe and Mail.
The big model is what
is called "the retrosnub ditrigonal icosidodecahedron" or "the small retrosnub
icosicosidodecahedron" or "the retrosnub disicosidodecahedron", built
by George Olshevsky
and Bruce Chilton, described in an article in the Spring 1996 issue of
21st Century Science and Technology.
His books include:
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H.S.M. Coxeter, Regular Polytopes, Macmillan, 1963, (Dover reprint,
1973).
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H.S.M. Coxeter, et al., The Fifty-Nine Icosahedra, U. Toronto Pr.,
1938, (Springer-Verlag reprint, 1982).
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H.S.M Coxeter, Introduction to Geometry, Wiley, 1961.
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H.S.M Coxeter, Twelve Geometric Essays, S. Illinois U. Pr., 1968.
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W.W. Rouse Ball, revised by H.S.M. Coxeter, Mathematical Recreations
and Essays, New York, 1938; 11th ed.,1960, (Dover reprint).
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H.S.M. Coxeter, Kaleidoscopes: Selected Writings, Wiley, 1995.
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