Object Details
- Description
- Cutting off the vertices of a regular polyhedron creates another polyhedron which may also have faces that are regular polygons. If one cuts off the vertices of a regular twenty-sided icosahedron, one can produce this truncated icosahedron, which has twenty faces that are regular hexagons and twelve that are regular pentagons. The solid angles of the figure are equal, and it is called a semi-regular solid. The ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes enumerated the eighteen regular and semi-regular solids, and they are known as Archimedean solids in his honor. Only the skeleton of the solid is shown in this model. It fits on a wooden stand.
- Some hobbyists enjoy figuring out how to make attractive models of geometric surfaces that have long been known. Harold Walter Benson, a machinist from Chicago, made this model in the 1990s, when he was retired and living in South Carolina.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- maker
- Benson, Harold Walter
- date made
- 1990s
- Credit Line
- Gift of Katherine B. Benson
- Physical Description
- wood (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 18.5 cm x 17 cm x 17 cm; 7 9/32 in x 6 11/16 in x 6 11/16 in
- Object Name
- Geometric Model
