Gyula

Posts tagged with "science"

SECRETS FROM THE...

Friday, 9. June 2006, 10:04:58

THE MOEBIUS BAND

The mathematician Auguste Ferdinand Moebius (1790-1886) discovered the one-sided surface that became known as the Moebius Strip or Moebius Band.

The artists M. C. Escher (1898-1972) was intrigued by the strip's puzzling geometry and included a procession of ants crawling along a Moebius Band in his collection of drawings depicting spatial illusions.
The Moebius Strip, however, is not an illusion. It can be modeled in 3D and its topological features can be explored using an interactive computer model.
A simple endless band in the form of belt-shaped loop (below left) has two distinct surfaces and two edges. Moving from one surface to the opposite site requires crossing one of the edges.

The Moebius Strip is an endless band that includes a half twist (below right).
Amazingly, the band has only one surface and only one edge. Moving along the surface (like Escher's ants) will bring you to the opposite site without crossing the edge.
I mean that the famous Moebius Band is one of the milestones of the human knowledge. But it is a neverending story...