[HN Gopher] Flexagon
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Flexagon
Author : jerbear4328
Score : 147 points
Date : 2024-03-04 10:35 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (en.wikipedia.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (en.wikipedia.org)
| 082349872349872 wrote:
| see also the Mexiflexagon:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTwrVAbV56o
| Jun8 wrote:
| Vihart's videos are excellent. I've watched her introductory
| video on hexaflexagons maybe 20 times:
| https://youtu.be/VIVIegSt81k?si=t_qrkiqUTTfy2l4d
| tromp wrote:
| Her videos, the last 2 external links on Wikipedia, are
| excellent introductions indeed. She even recreates the
| history of how they originated
|
| > The discovery of the first flexagon, a trihexaflexagon, is
| credited to the British mathematician Arthur H. Stone, while
| a student at Princeton University in the United States in
| 1939. His new American paper would not fit in his English
| binder so he cut off the ends of the paper and began folding
| them into different shapes.
| lupire wrote:
| Her video is an animation of a Martin Gardner "Mathematical
| Games" article that kicked off the craze. It's been
| published in a few of his books of article collections.
|
| https://www.google.com/search?q=Martin%20Gardner%20%22Mathe
| m...
| tromp wrote:
| Indeed; the story of its origins may also be found at the
| start of chapter 1 of Gardner's "Hexaflexagons and other
| mathematical diversions" book [1].
|
| [1] http://geofhagopian.net/papers/GARDNER01.pdf
| ubj wrote:
| Being from El Paso, I'd argue for calling this a Tex-
| Mexiflexagon :)
|
| Looks delicious! I'm looking forward to trying this sometime.
| aredox wrote:
| See also "kaleiodocycles" (the book to build some with Escher
| tilings is one of the fondest memories of my childhood)
| fluxflexer wrote:
| I can not recommend this enough, a must have if you like
| Escher's Art and are in weird geometric stuff.
|
| https://www.amazon.de/M-C-Escher-Kaleidozyklen-Taschen-speci...
| pard68 wrote:
| Are these different from the paper things kids made in middle
| school?
| batch12 wrote:
| You might be thinking of these:
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_fortune_teller
| pelagicAustral wrote:
| Oh man! I remembered some of the most vulgar iterations of
| this artifact back in primary...
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| I think so, as the other reply points out.
|
| And I want to encourage everyone to try their hand at making
| one of these. They're deceptively more interesting than they
| would appear to be at first glance.
|
| And plus-one on the recommendations for Vi Hart's videos on
| Hexaflexagons also mentioned here.
| semolino wrote:
| Here's a good example: https://youtube.com/watch?v=oqQwWRalcA0
|
| It's different than a "cootie catcher."
| pard68 wrote:
| Oh that is very different but very cool, thanks.
| zabzonk wrote:
| i remember fiddling with these in the late 1960s after reading
| about them in one of martin gardner's books. quite a lot of fun
| for basically no cost.
| andrewla wrote:
| I have never been less enlightened by a wikipedia page. Some
| youtube videos cleared up at least the mechanics of the basic
| versions, but what it means to have the various higher order
| flexagons is completely mysterious to me even having read this
| page.
| jerbear4328 wrote:
| If you want the more realistic introduction that introduced me
| to hexaflexagons, Vihart's YouTube videos are excellent:
| https://youtu.be/VIVIegSt81k
| latortuga wrote:
| My 7th grade science teacher (hi Mrs. Ericson!) had us make
| tetratetraflexagons in 1998 and I thought, literally until today,
| that she had made up that word. She also has us make science-
| themed dodecahedrons so I guess I should have been clued into the
| fact that she secretly loved geometry / topology.
| timpark wrote:
| I made a tetratetraflexagon for my wedding program. I ended up
| making a script to use ImageMagick to convert four images into
| two images suitable for printing on both sides of an 8.5"x11"
| sheet of paper. The scripts, example images, and instructions are
| here:
|
| https://www.timpark.org/making-a-tetratetraflexagon/
| xyzzy_plugh wrote:
| The recursive card you linked (link broken) is very impressive
| as well:
|
| https://kellianderson.com/blog/2011/10/11/talks-and-a-recurs...
|
| The concept is one thing but the execution takes it to another
| level.
| yboris wrote:
| Direct video link: https://vimeo.com/30392799
| zimpenfish wrote:
| Thanks for the instructions. I'm going to borrow them but I'll
| credit you as my source (linking to the webpage.)
| carrozo wrote:
| Hexagons are the bestagons
|
| https://youtu.be/thOifuHs6eY?si=S93Rm1e1EDWmOSUd
| josephcsible wrote:
| The glue-free cyclic hexatetraflexagon is my favorite. IMO it's
| actually really easy to make; I'm not sure why the article calls
| it complicated.
| temp0826 wrote:
| I didn't know this is what they were called. I have a desk toy
| called a shashibo that I think is based on this. Fun and pretty
| sturdy little thing.
| sram1337 wrote:
| Vi Hart had a great vid on Hexaflexagons
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIVIegSt81k
| lupire wrote:
| Watch the whole playlist series, including the
| mexihexaflexagons
| tda wrote:
| I immediately thought of those videos when I read the title,
| but somehow she is missing from the wiki page, even though
| there is a section on popular culture.
| jerbear4328 wrote:
| There is a link at the very bottom of the External Links
| section, but yeah, that is strange. Well, Wikipedia is the
| free encyclopedia anyone can edit.
| bitcurious wrote:
| Cool thing about wiki is that you can edit it! That way the
| next person to read it gets the benefit of your knowledge.
| lbeckman314 wrote:
| Thanks Filipecgarcia for updating!
|
| > m including Vi Hart reference [0]
|
| [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flexagon&diff
| =pre...
| agumonkey wrote:
| same
| sghiassy wrote:
| Hexagon is the bestagon
| dadoum wrote:
| Before clicking I thought it was about flexhedra, but I got
| confused. But since there is seemingly no Wikipedia page for it
| here is a French video (subtitled, hopefully with a high enough
| quality) describing it briefly.
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg3_gLO-reE
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(page generated 2024-03-05 23:00 UTC)