Toys for Drawing Figures – from the Polygraph to the Spirograph

Time: 6:00pm

Location: Saint Augustine Center for the Liberal Arts, Room 210, Villanova University

The history of mathematical recreations in the United States illuminates diverse aspects of American culture and the history of mathematics. In a few cases, practical objects have been transformed into mathematical recreations. For example, drawing instruments were initially made as useful tools for architects, navigators, engineers and craftsmen. From the late nineteenth century, some of them have been designed as children’s toys. Devices for drawing geometric figures – sold as the polygraph, the Wondergraph, the Hoot-Nanny, and the Spirograph - merit our attention. They appealed to a wide public, illustrate changing ideas about childhood and gender, influenced some contemporary art, served as an occasional inspiration for mathematical research, and played a small role in the mathematics classroom.