Graduate Student, College of Engineering
Letterpress print
Abstract
This piece shows how the concept of the sphere, a set of points equidistant from the origin, generalizes to different dimensionalities. It also refutes the common misconception that the term “n-sphere” refers to an object embedded in n dimensions and teaches the difference between the topological concepts of the sphere, a surface, and the ball, a solid. Understanding how mathematics generalizes to different dimensionalities is essential for general relativity and for string and membrane theory.
I printed this piece using the letterpress equipment at the Book Arts Studio in the Duderstadt center. By manually setting antique lead type – lining up each punctuation mark and piece of spacing with a pair of tweezers – I have created an analog facsimile of a 3D rendering. This tri-color print was made with three different formes – one for each color – and three different passes through the press.
Additional photos below show the three formes of lead type and the process of inking the type. After inking the type, paper is laid over the forme, and the press is rolled over the paper (not pictured).