Geometric Model by Robert Chaffe, a Student of A. Harry Wheeler, Hyperbolic Paraboloid
Geometric Model by Robert Chaffe, a Student of A. Harry Wheeler, Hyperbolic Paraboloid
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- Description
- Suppose two opposite sides of a rectangle are joined by straight lines parallel to the other two sides. Lifting two opposite corners of the rectangle—and keeping the lines taut—one obtains a saddle-shaped figure known as a hyperbolic paraboloid.
- This model of a hyperbolic paraboloid was made from balsa wood by Robert Chaffe, a high school student of A. Harry Wheeler in the class of 1937. It is likely that this person is Robert C. Chaffe (1918–1991) who was born in Connecticut, attended high school in Worcester, Massachusetts, graduated from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1942, and seems to have spent his career as a salesman and sales engineer in Worcester and nearby Auburn.
- References:
- Gerd Fischer, Mathematical Models, vol. 2, Braunschweig/Wiesbaden: Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, 1986, pp. 3–4.
- U.S. Census records.
- Massachusetts city directories.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- geometric model
- date made
- 1937
- teacher of maker
- Wheeler, Albert Harry
- maker
- Chaffe, Robert
- place made
- United States: Massachusetts, Worcester
- Physical Description
- wood, balsa (overall material)
- tan (overall color)
- cut and glued (overall production method/technique)
- Measurements
- average spatial: 12.5 cm x 21.6 cm x 15.5 cm; 4 29/32 in x 8 1/2 in x 6 3/32 in
- ID Number
- MA.304723.180
- accession number
- 304723
- catalog number
- 304723.180
- Credit Line
- Gift of Helen M. Wheeler
- subject
- Mathematics
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Mathematics
- Science & Mathematics
- Mathematical Association of America Objects
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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