- Thursday, November 16, 2017
- 3:40 PM–4:30 PM
- North Hall 276
Jim Turner, Calvin College
Polyhedron have been an important object of study in mathematics going back almost to the fifth century BCE and understanding their deep properties have been valuable for exploring the nature of space throughout history. Regular polyhedron, aka Platonic solids, have held particular fascination to both mathematicians, such as Pythagoras, Euclid, and Descartes, as well as philosophers, such as Plato, due to their intrinsic beauty. In this talk, we will look at look at a perspective of regular polyhedron that allows us to consider how they may be generalized to higher dimensions. We will then explore their geometric properties just enough to give a complete classification in all dimensions. Along the way, we will discuss the nature of invention and discovery in mathematics.
Refreshments precede the talk at 3:30 p.m. in NH 282.