The Fifty-Nine Icosahedra

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The stellation diagram for the icosahedron with the central triangle marked for the original icosahedron Stellation diagram of icosahedron.svg
The stellation diagram for the icosahedron with the central triangle marked for the original icosahedron

The Fifty-Nine Icosahedra is a book written and illustrated by H. S. M. Coxeter, P. Du Val, H. T. Flather and J. F. Petrie. It enumerates certain stellations of the regular convex or Platonic icosahedron, according to a set of rules put forward by J. C. P. Miller.

Contents

First published by the University of Toronto in 1938, a Second Edition reprint by Springer-Verlag followed in 1982. Tarquin's 1999 Third Edition included new reference material and photographs by K. and D. Crennell.

Authors' contributions

Miller's rules

Although Miller did not contribute to the book directly, he was a close colleague of Coxeter and Petrie. His contribution is immortalised in his set of rules for defining which stellation forms should be considered "properly significant and distinct": [1]

(i) The faces must lie in twenty planes, viz., the bounding planes of the regular icosahedron.
(ii) All parts composing the faces must be the same in each plane, although they may be quite disconnected.
(iii) The parts included in any one plane must have trigonal symmetry, without or with reflection. This secures icosahedral symmetry for the whole solid.
(iv) The parts included in any plane must all be "accessible" in the completed solid (i.e. they must be on the "outside". In certain cases we should require models of enormous size in order to see all the outside. With a model of ordinary size, some parts of the "outside" could only be explored by a crawling insect).
(v) We exclude from consideration cases where the parts can be divided into two sets, each giving a solid with as much symmetry as the whole figure. But we allow the combination of an enantiomorphous pair having no common part (which actually occurs in just one case).

Rules (i) to (iii) are symmetry requirements for the face planes. Rule (iv) excludes buried holes, to ensure that no two stellations look outwardly identical. Rule (v) prevents any disconnected compound of simpler stellations.

Coxeter

Coxeter was the main driving force behind the work. He carried out the original analysis based on Miller's rules, adopting a number of techniques such as combinatorics and abstract graph theory whose use in a geometrical context was then novel.

He observed that the stellation diagram comprised many line segments. He then developed procedures for manipulating combinations of the adjacent plane regions, to formally enumerate the combinations allowed under Miller's rules.

Icosagraph.svg

His graph, reproduced here, shows the connectivity of the various faces identified in the stellation diagram (see below). The Greek symbols represent sets of possible alternatives:

λ may be 3 or 4
μ may be 7 or 8
ν may be 11 or 12

Du Val

Du Val devised a symbolic notation for identifying sets of congruent cells, based on the observation that they lie in "shells" around the original icosahedron. Based on this he tested all possible combinations against Miller's rules, confirming the result of Coxeter's more analytical approach.

Flather

Flather's contribution was indirect: he made card models of all 59. When he first met Coxeter he had already made many stellations, including some "non-Miller" examples. He went on to complete the series of fifty-nine, which are preserved in the mathematics library of Cambridge University, England. The library also holds some non-Miller models, but it is not known whether these were made by Flather or by Miller's later students. [2]

Petrie

John Flinders Petrie was a lifelong friend of Coxeter and had a remarkable ability to visualise four-dimensional geometry. He and Coxeter had worked together on many mathematical problems. His direct contribution to the fifty nine icosahedra was the exquisite set of three-dimensional drawings which provide much of the fascination of the published work.

The Crennells

For the Third Edition, Kate and David Crennell reset the text and redrew the diagrams. They also added a reference section containing tables, diagrams, and photographs of some of the Cambridge models (which at that time were all thought to be Flather's). Corrections to this edition have been published online. [3]

List of the fifty nine icosahedra

Stellation diagram with numbered face sets Icosahedron stellation diagram center.svg
Stellation diagram with numbered face sets
Cell diagram with Du Val notation for cells Icosahedron cell diagram.svg
Cell diagram with Du Val notation for cells

Before Coxeter, only Brückner and Wheeler had recorded any significant sets of stellations, although a few such as the great icosahedron had been known for longer. Since publication of The 59, Wenninger published instructions on making models of some; the numbering scheme used in his book has become widely referenced, although he only recorded a few stellations.

Notes on the list

Index numbers are the Crennells' unless otherwise stated:

Crennell

Cells

Faces

Wenninger

Wheeler

Brückner

Remarks

Table of the fifty-nine icosahedra

Some images illustrate the mirror-image icosahedron with the f1 rather than the f1 cell.

CrennellCells Faces Wenninger WheelerBrücknerRemarksFace diagram3D
1A04
Icosahedron
1The Platonic icosahedron Stellation diagram of icosahedron.svg Stellation icosahedron A.png
2B126
Triakis icosahedron
2Taf. VIII, Fig. 2First stellation of the icosahedron,
small triambic icosahedron,
or Triakisicosahedron
Small triambic icosahedron stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron B.png
3C223
Compound of five octahedra
3Taf. IX, Fig. 6 Regular compound of five octahedra Compound of five octahedra stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron C.png
4D3 44Taf. IX, Fig.17 Stellation icosahedron d facets.png Stellation icosahedron D.png
5E5 6 7 Crennell 5th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron E.png
6F8 9 1027
Second stellation
19 Second stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I2 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron F.png
7G11 1241
Great icosahedron
11Taf. XI, Fig. 24 Great icosahedron Great icosahedron stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron G.png
8H1342
Final stellation
12 Taf. XI, Fig. 14 Final stellation of the icosahedron or Echidnahedron Echidnahedron stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron H.png
9e13' 537
Twelfth stellation
Twelfth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I12 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron e1.png
10f15' 6' 9 10 Crennell 10th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron f1.png
11g110' 1229
Fourth stellation
21 Fourth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I4 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron g1.png
12e1f13' 6' 9 10 Crennell 12th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e1f1.png
13e1f1g13' 6' 9 1220 Crennell 13th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e1f1g1.png
14f1g15' 6' 9 12 Crennell 14th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron f1g1.png
15e24' 6 7 Crennell 15th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e2.png
16f27' 822 Crennell 16th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron f2.png
17g28' 9'11 Crennell 17th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron g2.png
18e2f24' 6 8 Crennell 18th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e2f2.png
19e2f2g24' 6 9' 11 Crennell 19th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e2f2g2.png
20f2g27' 9' 1130
Fifth stellation
Fifth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I5 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron f2g2.png
21De14 532
Seventh stellation
10 Seventh stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I7 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron De1.png
22Ef17 9 1025
Compound of ten tetrahedra
8Taf. IX, Fig. 3 Regular compound of ten tetrahedra Compound of ten tetrahedra stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron Ef1.png
23Fg18 9 1231
Sixth stellation
17Taf. X, Fig. 3 Sixth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I6 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron Fg1.png
24De1f14 6' 9 10 Crennell 24th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De1f1.png
25De1f1g14 6' 9 12 Crennell 25th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De1f1g1.png
26Ef1g17 9 1228
Third stellation
9Taf. VIII, Fig. 26 Excavated dodecahedron Excavated dodecahedron stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron Ef1g1.png
27De23 6 75 Crennell 27th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De2.png
28Ef25 6 818Taf.IX, Fig. 20 Stellation of icosahedron ef2 facets.png Stellation icosahedron Ef2.png
29Fg210 1133
Eighth stellation
14 Eighth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I8 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron Fg2.png
30De2f23 6 834
Ninth stellation
13 Medial triambic icosahedron or
Great triambic icosahedron
Great triambic icosahedron stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron De2f2.png
31De2f2g23 6 9' 11 Crennell 31st icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De2f2g2.png
32Ef2g25 6 9' 11 Crennell 32nd icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron Ef2g2.png
33f15' 6' 9 1035
Tenth stellation
Tenth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I10 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron f1d.png
34e1f13' 5 6' 9 1036
Eleventh stellation
Eleventh stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I11 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron e1f1d.png
35De1f14 5 6' 9 10 Crennell 35th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De1f1d.png
36f1g15' 6' 9 10'12 Crennell 36th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron f1dg1.png
37e1f1g13' 5 6' 9 10'1239
Fourteenth stellation
Fourteenth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I14 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron e1f1dg1.png
38De1f1g14 5 6' 9 10'12 Crennell 38th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De1f1dg1.png
39f1g25' 6'8'9' 10 11 Crennell 39th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron f1dg2.png
40e1f1g23' 5 6'8'9' 10 11 Crennell 40th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e1f1dg2.png
41De1f1g24 5 6'8'9' 10 11 Crennell 41st icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De1f1dg2.png
42f1f2g25' 6'7'9' 10 11 Crennell 42nd icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron f1df2g2.png
43e1f1f2g23' 5 6'7'9' 10 11 Crennell 43rd icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e1f1df2g2.png
44De1f1f2g24 5 6'7'9' 10 11 Crennell 44th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De1f1df2g2.png
45e2f14'5' 6 7 9 1040
Fifteenth stellation
Fifteenth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I15 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron e2f1d.png
46De2f135' 6 7 9 10 Crennell 46th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De2f1d.png
47Ef15 6 7 9 1024
Compound of five tetrahedra
7
(6: left handed)
Taf. IX, Fig. 11 Regular Compound of five tetrahedra (right handed) Compound of five tetrahedra stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron Ef1d.png
48e2f1g14'5' 6 7 9 10'12 Crennell 48th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e2f1dg1.png
49De2f1g135' 6 7 9 10'12 Crennell 49th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De2f1dg1.png
50Ef1g15 6 7 9 10'12 Crennell 50th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron Ef1dg1.png
51e2f1f24'5' 6 8 9 1038
Thirteenth stellation
Thirteenth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I13 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron e2f1df2.png
52De2f1f235' 6 8 9 10 Crennell 52nd icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De2f1df2.png
53Ef1f25 6 8 9 1015
(16: left handed)
Crennell 53rd icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron Ef1df2.png
54e2f1f2g14'5' 6 8 9 10'12 Crennell 54th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e2f1df2g1.png
55De2f1f2g135' 6 8 9 10'12 Crennell 55th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De2f1df2g1.png
56Ef1f2g15 6 8 9 10'12 Crennell 56th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron Ef1df2g1.png
57e2f1f2g24'5' 6 9' 10 11 Crennell 57th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e2f1df2g2.png
58De2f1f2g235' 6 9' 10 11 Crennell 58th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De2f1df2g2.png
59Ef1f2g25 6 9' 10 11 Crennell 59th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron Ef1df2g2.png

See also

Notes

  1. Coxeter, du Val, et al (Third Edition 1999) Pages 15-16.
  2. Inchbald, G.; Some lost stellations of the icosahedron, steelpillow.com, 11 July 2006. (retrieved 14 September 2017)]
  3. K. and D. Crennell; The Fifty-Nine Icosahedra, Fortran Friends, (retrieved 14 September 2017).

Related Research Articles

References

WorldCat English: Polygons and Polyhedra: Theory and History. Photographs of models: Tafel VIII (Plate VIII), etc. High res. scans.