Friday, October 5, 2012

Hexaflexagons

This is a wonderful little video about a construction from folded paper called a hexaflexagon. Watch and see its odd and entertaining properties. Here's a link to Wikipedia's article on the flexagons which you should consult after watching the video.
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3 comments:

Mike Erickson said...

I really enjoyed this. Thank you Ted.

October 7, 2012 at 10:34 PM
Ted Keer said...

Thanks, Mike. I first came across the Hexaflexagon when I read Piers Anthony's Omnivore/Orn/Ox trilogy as a teen. He also showcased the Game of Life in those books. See Conway's Game of Life at wikipedia. The latter can be played with pencil on graph paper, or downloaded in various free versions on the internet. Both "games" were featured in Martin Gardner's "Mathematical Games" column in Scientific American, back when it was a challenging magazine not based on cheap sales and a questionable political viewpoint. I'll find a link for the life download and post it shortly.

October 7, 2012 at 10:51 PM
Ted Keer said...

P.S., I am not sure I can recommend Piers Anthony's books for adult reading--I loved him as a kid, but haven't been able to reread him as an adult, except for his Battle Circle trilogy. Even that's quite juvenile, but the plot holds together without too much of his usual hack work, forgive the pun. (Think Steven King as a sci-fi/fantasy writer for horny teenagers.)

October 7, 2012 at 10:56 PM

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