From pbeck@pica.army.mil Fri Nov 15 14:59:13 1991 Return-Path: Received: from FSAC1.PICA.ARMY.MIL by life.ai.mit.edu (4.1/AI-4.10) id AA19757; Fri, 15 Nov 91 14:59:13 EST Received: by FSAC1.PICA.ARMY.MIL id aa20060; 15 Nov 91 10:46 EST Date: Fri, 15 Nov 91 10:39:21 EST From: Peter Beck (BATDD) To: cube-lovers@ai.mit.edu Subject: book review Message-Id: <9111151039.aa18635@FSAC1.PICA.ARMY.MIL> SHAPING SPACE; A POLYHEDRAL APPROACH M Senechal, G Fleck eds. 284 pp, Birkhauser, 1988 $49.95, ISBN 0-8176-3351-0 REVIEW BY: Peter Beck; Rubik's Cube Collector Other reviews: SCITECH BOOK NEWS, V12, APR 88, P3 AMERICAN SCIENTIST, V77, JAN 89, P72 Shaping Space, the book, was inspired by the Shaping Space Conference held at Smith College in April 1984. The content of the book addresses itself to an interdisciplinary readership and should be considered as a cornerstone book in guiding any level of reader on an exploration of the Polyhedron Kingdom. It encourages readers to experience polyhedra directly, by including recipes for construction as well as numerous illustrations (188 line and 174 halftone illustrations). The book is organized in five parts with parts 1,2 &5 of greater interest to the beginning explorer. Part 1 is an introduction to polyhedra which includes a chapter on making polyhedra ,ie, Chapter 2 "Five Recipes for Making Polyhedra." Part 2 is an interdisciplinary overview of polyhedra which includes a chapter on "Milestones in the History of Polyhedra" (chapter 4), a chapter on "Polyhedra and Crystal Structures" (chapter 5),and a chapter on "Spatial Perception and Creativity" (chapter 7), and concludes with a chapter on "Why Study Polyhedra?" (chapter 8). Part 3 is about the roles of polyhedra in science. Part 4 is the theory of polyhedra. Part 5 is a discussion on incorporating the teaching of polyhedra in the curriculum. Included in part 5 is a resource guide that is organized in the following categories: A. Architecture B. Art C. Geometry D. Instructional and Recreational Materials E. Science F. Symmetry In addition to the resource guide each chapter has its own list of references. The book has a comprehensive index of 10 pages and it also has a list of the conference contributors addresses.