Abstract
This paper describes a newly discovered collection of 19th c. Olivier string models for descriptive geometry at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. String models illustrating concepts of descriptive geometry were employed in the 19th and early 20th centuries as teaching and visualization aids for engineering, architecture and mathematics. The carefully crafted “Olivier models” are composed of finished wooden bases, brass armatures and colored threads and have an inherent beauty. They illustrate a variety of ruled surfaces—cylinders, hyperboloids, cones, conoids, planes and hyperbolic paraboloids (hypars)—and their intersections. The models not only served to enhance mathematical and drawing skills but also inspired designers and artists. Such inspiration is evident for both the design of mechanisms for machines and for the creation of 20th century sculpture. It is believed the models were copied after the historic original Olivier Models at Union College circa 1884.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Cornell University School of Civil and Environmental Engineering for the recovery and ongoing restoration of the collection of string models. Tim Brock, a staff member of the School of CEE, is carrying out the restoration of the string models, more than twenty of which have been restored as of this writing. In addition, the authors wish to acknowledge the collaboration of Fred Rickey, professor emeritus of mathematics at the U.S. Military Academy, in ongoing research regarding the Olivier string models. The curatorial staff of the Mandeville Gallery at the Union College Schaffer Library has generously afforded us the opportunity to examine the Union collection of Olivier’s original models, currently largely in storage at that institution. Other sources include the Harvard Museum of Scientific Instruments, S. Schecter Curator, Elaine Engst Cornell University Archivist and Peggy Kidwell, Smithsonian Institution.
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Moon, F.C., Abel, J.F. (2016). 19th c. Olivier String Models at Cornell University: Ruled Surfaces in Gear Design. In: López-Cajún, C., Ceccarelli, M. (eds) Explorations in the History of Machines and Mechanisms. History of Mechanism and Machine Science, vol 32. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31184-5_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31184-5_18
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