Definition:Regular Icosahedron/Historical Note
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Historical Note on the Regular Icosahedron
In The Elements, this object is referred to just as an icosahedron.
In the words of Euclid:
- An icosahedron is a solid figure contained by twenty equal and equilateral triangles.
(The Elements: Book $\text{XI}$: Definition $27$)
According to the Pythagorean tradition, the regular icosahedron was the symbol for the element water.
Sources
- 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $4$
- 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $4$