Mathematical toys?

Question

Anybody know of "serious" mathematical ornaments or toys like the Gömböc, etc?

Already have a rubix and abacus (that's more of a tool though).

I was being lack there, perhaps I should define what I do want by what I don't want; placing the correct shape in the hole, children games and so on. — Adam, Jan 18 '12 at 04:32
You probably mean "lax" in the above comment (somewhat Ironic since in your question statement it probably should be "Rubik's" cube). — Willie Wong, Jan 18 '12 at 10:37

dls · Answer 1 · 2012-01-18T07:22:18.043

15

For when the Möbius strip is too pedestrian, the good people at Acme Co. claim their Klein bottles are the "finest closed, non-orientable, boundary-free manifolds sold anywhere in our three spatial dimensions."

edited Jan 18 '12 at 07:22

answered Jan 18 '12 at 06:11

dls

4,776

2

His book the Cuckoo's Egg is a lot of fun, too. – Ross Millikan Jan 18 '12 at 06:20

score 12 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 20 '12 at 17:11

12

On Shapeways, you can find a variety of mathematical ornaments.

My favorites are the differential geometric surfaces designed by Bachman. I also like Bathsheba's designs as well.

enter image description here

(Sorry the image is so large. Is there a way to reduce the size?)

answered Jan 20 '12 at 17:11

Jesse Madnick

32,819

score 10 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 18 '12 at 04:34

10

I have a Rattleback at my desk. Fun to fiddle with while thinking.

answered Jan 18 '12 at 04:34

score 9 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 18 '12 at 04:32

9

The Rubik cube. ${}{}{}{}{}{}{}$

answered Jan 18 '12 at 04:32

Gerry Myerson

185,413

Oh yeah obviously I have one of those - I have some with more than 6 faces also, though in the end it's a tougher algorithm. Very nice puzzles though. – Adam Jan 18 '12 at 04:33

score 7 · Answer 5 · edited Jan 26 '12 at 12:13

7

Spirograph from Hasbro. You can make lots of famous mathematical curves with its pieces: epicycloids, hypocycloids, etc. MathWorld has an article on some of these curves.

edited Jan 26 '12 at 12:13

J. M. ain't a mathematician

76,540

answered Jan 23 '12 at 12:21

John D. Cook

7,168

I love the Spirograph; +1 of course. – J. M. ain't a mathematician Jan 26 '12 at 12:12

score 6 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 18 '12 at 05:04

6

Zometool is a construction kit which has 2-, 3-, and 5-fold symmetry, which is great for building (3D projections of) the 120-cell, or just for playing around.

answered Jan 18 '12 at 05:04

Adina G

530

1

@Adam: Seeing this, I thought of K'nex. Their website doesn't have any info on what symmetries are supported on the home page. I grew up with tinker toys. – Ross Millikan Jan 18 '12 at 06:17

Sniper Clown · Answer 7 · 2012-01-18T06:25:22.540

6

Wikipedia has a section on mechanical puzzle.

As for myself, my fascination with algebraic topology began with metal link puzzles or hanayama.

Of course, Tower of Hanoi is a classic.

Of interest may be the reference: Adventures in Group Theory: Rubik’s Cube, Merlin’s Machine, and Other Mathematical Toys by David Joyner. Book description in Amazon.

edited Jan 18 '12 at 06:25

answered Jan 18 '12 at 06:13

Sniper Clown

1,258

score 4 · Answer 8 · answered Jan 20 '12 at 18:15

While it may be a 'children's toy', the Switch Pitch works remarkably well as an object of mathematical sculpture; it's fundamentally based on the fact that the vertices of a regular cube are also the vertices of two (interlocked) regular tetrahedra (if your cube is $\{0,1\}^3$, take the vertices with $i+j+k$ respectively odd or even). It helps that people can't help but fiddle with it; it's been a perfect hand-fidgetting toy for me.

score 4 · Answer 9 · answered Jan 26 '12 at 14:06

4

The Oloid is fun to touch, to watch and understand.

answered Jan 26 '12 at 14:06

Hans-Peter Stricker

18,719

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Jan 18 '12 at 11:17

2

Maybe a Tippe Top.

answered Jan 18 '12 at 11:17

bdecaf

101
2

score 2 · Answer 11 · answered Jan 18 '12 at 13:49

2

Love zometool [1]

[1]: http://www.zometool.com/ for geometry, platonic and archimedean solids, among others/

answered Jan 18 '12 at 13:49

cobaltduck

1,483

score 2 · Answer 12 · answered Jan 26 '12 at 13:43

2

Double pendulum.

answered Jan 26 '12 at 13:43

Karatuğ Ozan Bircan

4,439

score 2 · Answer 13 · answered Jan 26 '12 at 17:25

2

http://tavernpuzzles.stores.yahoo.net/puzzle.html http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/tavernpuzzles_2188_4561747

Goal: Remove the big ring

http://tavernpuzzles.stores.yahoo.net/puzzle.html

answered Jan 26 '12 at 17:25

TROLLHUNTER

8,875

score 1 · Answer 14 · answered Jan 20 '12 at 16:52

1

I think there are 2 different toy devices that mimic a Gray code. One can be seen at http://mypuzzlecollection.blogspot.com/2011/12/brain.html. The other is named "Spin Out".

answered Jan 20 '12 at 16:52

Michel Marcus

21

Also the Towers of Hanoi. – JeffE May 14 '12 at 07:21

score 1 · Answer 15 · answered Jan 23 '12 at 12:25

1

Check Montessori mathematical materials like the binomial cube just google it

answered Jan 23 '12 at 12:25

Becnosc

1

score 0 · Answer 16 · answered Jan 18 '12 at 10:38

0

Sudoku and all other logic trainers would also fit.

answered Jan 18 '12 at 10:38

draks ...

18,755

score 0 · Answer 17 · answered May 14 '12 at 06:16

0

Origami to fold shapes to find surface area of 3 dimensional shapes. Wooden blocks. The Game of 24. Math Jeopardy. Bucky balls. Sudoku. Computer games with rotations and other types of transformations.

answered May 14 '12 at 06:16

user31284

157

score 0 · Answer 18 · edited May 15 '17 at 15:21

0

In a blatant reference to my own creative work, I submit for your consideration the mathematical artwork presented on my Shapeways Shop at this address: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/Feingold_Math_Art But there are a huge number of other artists whose work can also be found in other shops there.

edited May 15 '17 at 15:21

Parcly Taxel

105,904

answered May 15 '17 at 14:49

Alex Feingold

1

Mathematical toys?

18 Answers18