The Fifty-Nine Icosahedra

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Short description: Book by H.S.M. Coxeter and colleagues on the stellations of the regular icosahedron


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.

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
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

  • In the index numbering added to the Third Edition by the Crennells, the first 32 forms (indices 1-32) are reflective models, and the last 27 (indices 33–59) are chiral with only the right-handed forms listed. This follows the order in which the stellations are depicted in the book.

Cells

  • In Du Val's notation, each shell is identified in bold type, working outwards, as a, b, c, ..., h with a being the original icosahedron. Some shells subdivide into two types of cell, for example e comprises e1 and e2. The set f1 further subdivides into right- and left-handed forms, respectively f1 (plain type) and f1 (italic). Where a stellation has all cells present within an outer shell, the outer shell is capitalised and the inner omitted, for example a + b + c + e1 is written as Ce1.

Faces

  • All of the stellations can be specified by a stellation diagram. In the diagram shown here, the numbered colors indicate the regions of the stellation diagram which must occur together as a set, if full icosahedral symmetry is to be maintained. The diagram has 13 such sets. Some of these subdivide into chiral pairs (not shown), allowing stellations with rotational but not reflexive symmetry. In the table, faces which are seen from underneath are indicated by an apostrophe, for example 3'.

Wenninger

  • The index numbers and the numbered names were allocated arbitrarily by Wenninger's publisher according to their occurrence in his book Polyhedron models and bear no relation to any mathematical sequence. Only a few of his models were of icosahedra. His names are given in shortened form, with "... of the icosahedron" left off.

Wheeler

  • Wheeler found his figures, or "forms" of the icosahedron, by selecting line segments from the stellation diagram. He carefully distinguished this from Kepler's classical stellation process. Coxeter et al. ignored this distinction and referred to all of them as stellations.

Brückner

  • Max Brückner made and photographed models of many polyhedra, only a few of which were icosahedra. Taf. is an abbreviation of Tafel, German for plate.

Remarks

  • No. 8 is sometimes called the echidnahedron after an imagined similarity to the spiny anteater or echidna. This usage is independent of Kepler's description of his regular star polyhedra as his echidnae.

Table of the fifty-nine icosahedra

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

Crennell Cells Faces Wenninger Wheeler Brückner Remarks Face diagram 3D
1 A 0 04
Icosahedron
1 9999


The Platonic icosahedron Stellation diagram of icosahedron.svg Stellation icosahedron A.png
2 B 1 26
Triakis icosahedron
2 0802 Taf. VIII, Fig. 2


First stellation of the icosahedron,
small triambic icosahedron,
or Triakisicosahedron
Small triambic icosahedron stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron B.png
3 C 2 23
Compound of five octahedra
3 0906 Taf. IX, Fig. 6


Regular compound of five octahedra Compound of five octahedra stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron C.png
4 D 3 4 99 4 0917 Taf. IX, Fig.17


Stellation icosahedron d facets.png Stellation icosahedron D.png
5 E 5 6 7 99 99 9999


Crennell 5th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron E.png
6 F 8 9 10 27
Second stellation
19 9999


Second stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I2 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron F.png
7 G 11 12 41
Great icosahedron
11 1124 Taf. XI, Fig. 24


Great icosahedron Great icosahedron stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron G.png
8 H 13 42
Final stellation
12 1114 Taf. XI, Fig. 14


Final stellation of the icosahedron or Echidnahedron Echidnahedron stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron H.png
9 e1 3' 5 37
Twelfth stellation
99 9999


Twelfth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I12 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron e1.png
10 f1 5' 6' 9 10 99 99 9999


Crennell 10th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron f1.png
11 g1 10' 12 29
Fourth stellation
21 9999


Fourth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I4 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron g1.png
12 e1f1 3' 6' 9 10 99 99 9999 Crennell 12th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e1f1.png
13 e1f1g1 3' 6' 9 12 99 20 9999


Crennell 13th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e1f1g1.png
14 f1g1 5' 6' 9 12 99 99 9999 Crennell 14th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron f1g1.png
15 e2 4' 6 7 99 99 9999 Crennell 15th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e2.png
16 f2 7' 8 99 22 9999


Crennell 16th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron f2.png
17 g2 8' 9'11 99 99 9999 Crennell 17th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron g2.png
18 e2f2 4' 6 8 99 99 9999 Crennell 18th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e2f2.png
19 e2f2g2 4' 6 9' 11 99 99 9999 Crennell 19th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e2f2g2.png
20 f2g2 7' 9' 11 30
Fifth stellation
99 9999


Fifth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I5 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron f2g2.png
21 De1 4 5 32
Seventh stellation
10 9999


Seventh stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I7 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron De1.png
22 Ef1 7 9 10 25
Compound of ten tetrahedra
8 0903 Taf. IX, Fig. 3


Regular compound of ten tetrahedra Compound of ten tetrahedra stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron Ef1.png
23 Fg1 8 9 12 31
Sixth stellation
17 1003 Taf. X, Fig. 3


Sixth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I6 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron Fg1.png
24 De1f1 4 6' 9 10 99 99 9999 Crennell 24th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De1f1.png
25 De1f1g1 4 6' 9 12 99 99 9999 Crennell 25th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De1f1g1.png
26 Ef1g1 7 9 12 28
Third stellation
9 0826 Taf. VIII, Fig. 26


Excavated dodecahedron Excavated dodecahedron stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron Ef1g1.png
27 De2 3 6 7 99 5 9999


Crennell 27th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De2.png
28 Ef2 5 6 8 99 18 0920 Taf.IX, Fig. 20


Stellation of icosahedron ef2 facets.png Stellation icosahedron Ef2.png
29 Fg2 10 11 33
Eighth stellation
14 9999


Eighth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I8 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron Fg2.png
30 De2f2 3 6 8 34
Ninth stellation
13 9999


Medial triambic icosahedron or
Great triambic icosahedron
Great triambic icosahedron stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron De2f2.png
31 De2f2g2 3 6 9' 11 99 99 9999 Crennell 31st icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De2f2g2.png
32 Ef2g2 5 6 9' 11 99 99 9999 Crennell 32nd icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron Ef2g2.png
33 f1 5' 6' 9 10 35
Tenth stellation
99 9999


Tenth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I10 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron f1d.png
34 e1f1 3' 5 6' 9 10 36
Eleventh stellation
99 9999


Eleventh stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I11 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron e1f1d.png
35 De1f1 4 5 6' 9 10 99 99 9999 Crennell 35th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De1f1d.png
36 f1g1 5' 6' 9 10' 12 99 99 9999 Crennell 36th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron f1dg1.png
37 e1f1g1 3' 5 6' 9 10' 12 39
Fourteenth stellation
99 9999


Fourteenth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I14 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron e1f1dg1.png
38 De1f1g1 4 5 6' 9 10' 12 99 99 9999 Crennell 38th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De1f1dg1.png
39 f1g2 5' 6' 8' 9' 10 11 99 99 9999 Crennell 39th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron f1dg2.png
40 e1f1g2 3' 5 6' 8' 9' 10 11 99 99 9999 Crennell 40th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e1f1dg2.png
41 De1f1g2 4 5 6' 8' 9' 10 11 99 99 9999 Crennell 41st icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De1f1dg2.png
42 f1f2g2 5' 6' 7' 9' 10 11 99 99 9999 Crennell 42nd icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron f1df2g2.png
43 e1f1f2g2 3' 5 6' 7' 9' 10 11 99 99 9999 Crennell 43rd icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e1f1df2g2.png
44 De1f1f2g2 4 5 6' 7' 9' 10 11 99 99 9999 Crennell 44th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De1f1df2g2.png
45 e2f1 4' 5' 6 7 9 10 40
Fifteenth stellation
99 9999


Fifteenth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I15 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron e2f1d.png
46 De2f1 3 5' 6 7 9 10 99 99 9999 Crennell 46th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De2f1d.png
47 Ef1 5 6 7 9 10 24
Compound of five tetrahedra
7
(6: left handed)
0911 Taf. IX, Fig. 11


Regular Compound of five tetrahedra (right handed) Compound of five tetrahedra stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron Ef1d.png
48 e2f1g1 4' 5' 6 7 9 10' 12 99 99 9999 Crennell 48th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e2f1dg1.png
49 De2f1g1 3 5' 6 7 9 10' 12 99 99 9999 Crennell 49th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De2f1dg1.png
50 Ef1g1 5 6 7 9 10' 12 99 99 9999 Crennell 50th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron Ef1dg1.png
51 e2f1f2 4' 5' 6 8 9 10 38
Thirteenth stellation
99 9999


Thirteenth stellation of icosahedron Wenninger I13 stellation facets.svg Stellation icosahedron e2f1df2.png
52 De2f1f2 3 5' 6 8 9 10 99 99 9999 Crennell 52nd icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De2f1df2.png
53 Ef1f2 5 6 8 9 10 99 15
(16: left handed)
9999 Crennell 53rd icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron Ef1df2.png
54 e2f1f2g1 4' 5' 6 8 9 10' 12 99 99 9999 Crennell 54th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e2f1df2g1.png
55 De2f1f2g1 3 5' 6 8 9 10' 12 99 99 9999 Crennell 55th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De2f1df2g1.png
56 Ef1f2g1 5 6 8 9 10' 12 99 99 9999 Crennell 56th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron Ef1df2g1.png
57 e2f1f2g2 4' 5' 6 9' 10 11 99 99 9999 Crennell 57th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron e2f1df2g2.png
58 De2f1f2g2 3 5' 6 9' 10 11 99 99 9999 Crennell 58th icosahedron stellation facets.png Stellation icosahedron De2f1df2g2.png
59 Ef1f2g2 5 6 9' 10 11 99 99 9999 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. [1] (retrieved 14 September 2017)]
  3. K. and D. Crennell; The Fifty-Nine Icosahedra, Fortran Friends, [2] (retrieved 14 September 2017).

References

WorldCat English: Polygons and Polyhedra: Theory and History. Photographs of models: Tafel VIII (Plate VIII), etc. High res. scans.
  • H. S. M. Coxeter, Patrick du Val, H.T. Flather, J.F. Petrie (1938) The Fifty-nine Icosahedra, University of Toronto studies, mathematical series 6: 1–26.
    • Third edition (1999) Tarquin ISBN:978-1-899618-32-3 MR676126
  • Wenninger, Magnus J. (1983) Polyhedron models; Cambridge University Press , Paperback edition (2003). ISBN:978-0-521-09859-5.
  • A. H. Wheeler (1924) "Certain forms of the icosahedron and a method for deriving and designating higher polyhedra", Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians, Toronto, Vol. 1, pp 701–708.

External links