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A Secret of Ancient Geometry Jay Kappraff [New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, New Jersey 1 Introduction ‘the architecture of antiquity has sense of hat ‘mony and propetion rarely equalnd eve in the tgeelest more of other era. The quality of the work of am architect or decgnor is determined by Tow he o she comes to gripe withthe mathemat ‘eal constraints on space inhereat in all designs Soha is posible, in contast with the designers intention, "what onght to be” "The history of ar Chitocare rls the history of Weasin that what ‘ought to be? us changed Geom motaphysieal "nat {ral weed views to explorations ofthe individual iti" Adatinally the tory of technology reflected in hanes of what Is posi” "have are to Finds of contrat on space that the architect or designer mst eonfents constraints impoesd on a dasign bocause ‘tthe geometrical properties of spaces ‘onateaints imposed ona deen by the d- ‘Spur who creates geometrical founda ‘om orwell av an overlay to the de- fen, The design's cies based a the teste ofthe design and onthe fot that Ie or she wishes to achieve Without constraint, «design i chaotic, ire vant and lacking in focus. Where do the designers ansrants come from? Ta ancient ties they were ‘erved ether from spiritual contexts or handed ‘down trom geaeraton to generation by tradition, ‘The remus were cathedals nich as Chartes and Hagin Sophia or structures rach ae sho Bgyptinn ‘Pyramids and the Great Taple of Jerasaln o the temples of ancient Groce sch an the Parthenon, the Theseum, and the temples of Poseidon and Canes, Modern arcitecure has replaced sprieaal—and tradition bound contexts with the private vison of tho designer or architect and subatinted diver tity for tendon. However the deigner i lef with few tool to deal wth sch slack of constraint AL. ter oll what shoal the dese do when each de Figure 1: The Bras str. sign breaks new ground In an afort to recover the Dritpls of encientarbitcture, many rssarchers Ine sued the gometsie and spiritual busca of anciontatrctares [F, 16,17, 19), “This popor wil disease the work of Tons Bruns, Danish engine, who hypothesised a eystom of ‘acest geometry Hat be believed lay at the bo feof many ofthe temples of antiqlty (Tt was ‘Brune belie thar there existed i about 1400, 2 betwork of temples and brctherhood of priests Cnginating In ancient pt which hada secrets tem of geometry: AL the basis of Brunes's the (ty fe th eight pointed star Mustrated in Pigare 1 Brut lage wo have seen thi star in alent temples bat gave no reference) where he stated ‘hat it wae often mite for ornamentation. rom the geomety of ths star he was ae to reconstruct easnably close facil to th plan and elo tions of the ruins of ancest temples ach ae the Paathoon, the These, and the Temples of Cees fund Poseidon, noting that certain fteoections eo ince with features ofthese temples (10, Unfrt ‘tly aithough the examples he uses to iustrate bis theories ace leery rendered, there is 20 hi torial record to support bis alm. Ae areal his "eewrch has ut cosiderable skeptics. Never= gecet of Aclont Geomet je, a8 we shall te, the Brune star reveals & fey eomiatent with ancient architecture, fk riod che musieal scale. Even though it une Tuy to have paved he all-pevasve role fr ten fie construction Uhtt Brune conjectured, it may Rou ave Been ope of Ue organizing tools. At aay To tne boty oft gomett s rea enough 0 soa 2 The Concopt of Measure in Ancient Architecture (One thing that we can say for sure about the Ahought process of anton ie that they diflred Turley fom ur owa, Unb Arsotl introduced, ‘tmervetion and xisnuremerts the only wy 40 eve at teu, it appear Ut selity was best do- erie by numbers, sie, and pete. TRA. Selwaller di uc [felt that the com bination of mgt and spzabel conveyed by ancient tritngs was te only way isfrmation about the ‘forking of the universe cool be conveyed without Toluelag its true moaning. According to Di Lo bee [the ancient Egyptians ele that: Measure was an expression of Know ge thet i to say that measure has for them @ universal messing inking the things of bere below with things Above find solely an ioumedinte practical ‘moning—squatiy is unstable: only ane on has «valve durable enough 10 see to 2 bats [for dexription). Thus the gyptins’ unit of mearement was al fways vrieble—mvscure and proportions Were adap to the purpes andthe sym bole meaning of Ue iden to be expres [Forexarpl| the eubit wll not necessary be tho sate from ope temple to another, since these temples ae in deren places ltd thee pups: ate diferent. fore a standasd unit of measure can be ine seadneed thee mist be a sophilted means of ‘ranapotaton i order fr Its users to be able to rave to a centr lation to etsieve the standard measure for thal own purposes. Tnsorieis without aocxe to standard measures, coxher iets mere developed to enable the crf. fan to bul or the azcitecs to een sructares ‘without need of eadaed casure. Even when mes- uring rods were salable, they may ave been sok ‘nly as an adjust to tho se of pure geometry in an the design of sacred strictures. In pla of ms bers to describe a measurement, «kind of appliod eometiy mas developed in whic loge were con= rictod without the need to meneure ther. All ‘hat ws die! wa ent of rope aed strat felge (the equivalent of oar eompass and sraixht= agp. Methods wore then devise to subdivide Say length into aublengths, always by construction. Evidence of construction lines have been dison- ‘red othe Dae of the unfiaihed Temple of Sardi SrTurkey and also inthe coartyaed of the Tem- ple of Zeus of Serath Jordan 18}. Artmann (2) Fos shown how auth methods were nse to con struct the Gothic cathodal. "The geometry nected fo bull thee eadral wae earod from boiled ‘own vesslons ofthe fst Books of Bui, known at mow Booths [which highligived the construe {re methods while eliminating the proots of the theorems, ‘The knowledge o implement this geome ‘dy wos tought to the gids of masons, other ar Sau, nad builders ana thon assed on fom gener ‘ion to generation by oral tradition. One ean image ine nly eared constructive teciques based on the Bruner tar beng tases by this radition tid applied to the eoeatrtion of alent sacred ‘raetutes We shall dosrbe Bane’ hypothet 3 The Ancient Geometry of ‘Tons Brunes In ancient times it was an important problem t0 find way to crete square or rectangle with ths same aren or creumference esa given circe— “uaring the le,” a it was known, Since the tiele syboled the celetal phere while a square br recangie one wit esis perpendiclar to {he compass directions of wort, east south, and tres symbolized the Enh, the squaring of the ci Tr could be thought ta symbotaly bring “heaven lowe to earth” Bones demonstrates one way in ‘which suceat geoueters may ave attempted t0 Tele this problem using ony compas and sraght- tg (we now kw that this cannot be done ex (aly). To square the etele with eespect to cccum= ference Bruns fist considers a grometrieconstrit- tion which e refers to asa "werd ent.” "Toereate the anced ot of aide of unit square, place the point of your compass at @ vertex and row an are through the caster of the square 0@ Shows in Figare 2. This ente the side down by © factor of 1/2 In Figure are AB ad the diagonal Cb ofthe bal unre are sppecietaly equal. 0 Figure 2: The sacred ext ot eo Figure 3: Comparson of lng erence cout Soret Shia Figure 4: Four sere cat within a square __ Geometry at Work Figore 5: The circumference ofthe ere is appro realy equal to the perimeter of te outer square gue 6 The ad quadravu square j/3j4= 14007... while foja = 14s cp: In Figure 4 four sated to AB are poe into Rlagusres Ta Figure the four sacred cots form ‘hate whos eeuference sequal to the perimeter Gfeeaquare with ge CD to witin 1.0% Th Figure Gwe oe st ail i drewa, chat ts tangent to an outer aquare (isribed ile) and Aucing Une wetions of an nner square (CEC: ‘eetbed tle). This squre-wihin-wequst, called {aed qadvarim” square, was much sed in a Seue oomety and arcatecture (19) The aoe of {te labor aquare it obvieusly bal de azea of the iter nquare. Tn aexguence of circles and squares Stace within each othr euch square is 1/2 the Mon ofthe preeding sqbare. igure 7 shows ase (fueee of od uadeatur squares which ar shad ‘Bifm logartne pra own os the Barrell ‘A Secret of Ancient Geometry Oe Figure 7: The Baraele spiral Figure &: Approximate squaring ofthe crc pra. I is esy to constract and with olor males fi atecenting deen. Another geometric struct used by ancient ge- comcters wa the upard-pointing tangle ABC in Figure 8 which sso has half tho aren of the tlreameeribing square BCP. Ifthe downward Doing tangle DEF is constructd, then recta {le JKIH, fray te vertical ines throug the Intersection points of the upward- and downward pointing trlangles and the dee, hs approximately {he same arenas the cle, ean be determined {nt shown bere) thatthe width ofthis rectangles A) Get the dianeler of the crcl. Taking th oquare to have legs equal to I unt, then the radius of Figur 10; Constsustion ofthe Brunes star the stele equa 1/2 and ‘Aro of cite = (1/2)! = 7858. Area of rectangle ~ 4/8 = 0, on ere of 1.39% in Figre 9 we show that for an arbitrary rect angle ti line AB frou a vertex to the canter of ‘he cppasite ade cuts the diagonal CD at the 1/9 point We now se his geometrical property to de- feribe the suotre of the Brunes star of Figure 1. ‘Talo the dreunseribing quare and sutstvde by placing perpendicular axes within i, shown in Figure 10. This divides the outer square into four ‘verlapring rectangular balf-quares. Place two d- ‘Tgnal nto each of the four half squares and od the to diagonals ofthe outer square. Notice that the eeuling diagram chown Sa Figure 10) bs the runes ae "We now see that this star contains all the i formation need to get good approximations to ‘Sparing the ere In bolls eucumference alae ‘Al hiiden within the Branes star are numerous Figure 11: The x9 grid f subyquares determined by the Bruns ar Figure 12: Division of a line ita seven approxi rately equal pore Geometry at Work ihe tangles. or example tingle ABC ie 1 Abit tingle because, tg AQ) ng ge = 2 “Therefore sng the trigonometry identity, Dean }C tne = Tea ie oo cat, AB Be = 7 ite Brune star with ll ot comtrection ines lepton Figre 10 placard on each face of a ‘ibe, can be shown that the wets of all of the sx Archimedean sll and two Platonic olds {cat and ecto) related tothe ebie system { syonmtry an wl a tho ttrabelron colle ‘withthe pat of ineretion of te eossruction Tins [10 Tho Brune star abo succeed in row ing the geometrieal bass for dviding an arbitrary length ito any rnb of qual ublengto without the ue of measure. 4 Equidivision of Longths: ‘A Study in Perspective Figure 10 contain the construction points with which to subdivide lengths Ingo 9 and equal paris without the need of standard messi, Le, Points J and M divide diagonal AP? into thirds (owt Figuee 9) while H, O, and L divide QC in tquvters The cutrl cose of Figure 10 there {ice subdivided by the central egular eetagon GHITKLMN tnt four equal parts and the diago- lento see equal parts na site way, Points 1K, G, and M then provide the polnte that subd ide the cuter square ito 3% gre of sabaquares, ‘shown in Figure 11. Figure 1 indicates how the Brune star divides line vegment into 8 4 8, and ‘oq part, while sacred cut drawn from a ver tocof thn onter sare in Figure 13 defies the level ‘hat partitions ine into seven parts which are ap- renmetely the same; the eror is within 2% In ‘Shnlar ways, Bronce har shows that the Brunce ‘tar can be wed to eglparttion a line into between {Vand 12 parts in minaner which dows not require fa sanvdacdl measure, but only a length of stretched rope "This quipartitioning property ofthe Bruns star hs its roots in another ancient goometie contrac. loa (15) which was fret rlated to me by Mlchaol [a Secret of Ancient Geometry ¥ as = % a 4s 1s : Fr Figure 16: Square with diagonals v 4» Figure 14: Double square with diagonals Porter a Profssr of Architecture at Pratt Inst Ite in Figure 14 the ovter square ofthe Brunet ar has been extended to a double square. ‘The Principal diagonals ofthe double square divide the ‘oth of the upper square into to equal parts ‘The pelncpal diagonal ntcect the two diagonals ‘ofthe upper agate a the tintin points of the vith, At the same time, che tected width in- eects the log side ofthe doable square at the 173 point. Continuing one mote step, the two di gona ofthe rectangle inert the pencil tiggyal at points wbieh ave che width nto four feel pts. This width alo divides the long sie of {he doute aqunre at the 1/4 poi. Tis eousruc- tion maybe coutiaued to aublide a ine sxgment sto any amber of equal pats, as in Figure 15 with sight subdivisions, ‘Asisoften the case with mathemati, «diagram cet upto dernonstrate ope coocept shown to have deeper structure, We ootld ako view Figures 14 tid 15 as 4 pir of rood tacks in perspective {eceding tothe horizon fine. The diagonal and the ‘nit side of the double aguare phy the rol of the Falroed tacks as shown in Figure 16. Ifthe ob- Servers at on aetitraty location in the foreground, thon the diltence Between the tracks appears halt [ugtot asa the base ofthe double square t some TDeacured distance im the diction ofthe horizon Feferred to as standard distance” or 1. Aba flisance from the observer of 28 the distance be- Figure 16; Raoad tracks in perspective, ‘The point P athe conta vanishing pot, ‘mean the tracks appears to be 1/4 Tage the bse width In similar maser, the tracks appear to be 1/8 es wide at 38 (oot show). How many Standard unite S make the tracks appear 1/3 a8 ‘wide? “To answer this question requires us to an nyse the pattern in pester depth Table 1 shows the relation between apparent width betwen the falload tracks L ad the rending distance D (in Unite of 5) towards the herzo. The receding di- {ances alo expressed in terms of logarithms to the tyme 2 In other words, the rlation betwoen D and ‘Din Table I can be expressed by the formulas D (in nits of $) = eas 1b 2 1s cea fom Table I that for = 1/3, = 3 aod 82 = log lyn 2 = 1888. ‘The author bas further examined the projective ‘ansformation that gives re to Figures 1 18, abd 1 and ae related tothe sai of overtones sulting from plucking the sting of s monecord or (ther stringed instrament (1) Apparcot width (L) Receding distance (D) VP toga 1p. 13. ya 1s rable L 5 The 3,4,5-Triangle in Sacred Geometry and Architecture ‘We showed in Section 9 that triangle ABC in Fig swe 10a S4reht triangle, The 84eriebeark ‘angle was called the Egyptian angle by Views, {he architect of the Emperor Avast and had {reat sigtificance inthe contruction of the pyro ‘id of Cheope (9, 17]. In eap. 56, Plutarch (17) de- ‘eid this tangle ae the symbol ofthe Egyptian ‘init, associted with the thee sgaieant Pay tina deities 3 Onite 4 be 5 => Horus “The tay to understanding the geometry ofthe runes diagram ls in ts construction, But how (/V2,1/8), = (fr). they have been fora by his imagination, In my opinion, it is unl that this method was stu ily used as deseibe ly Brunes. Neverthelom, the Saplisty and harmony of Bronessdgsams make it plasible that they could have been used ix some ‘unspecied manner at tool for temple deen 6 A Generalized Rrnnes Star Gary Adamson I] has gonerlized the Brunes sr by replacing the eight Ine seman that make wp ‘the dlagonae ofthe four half squares by seogmont ‘of an hyperbola jntapocod in eight ciferent rin tations within a unit squae, a shown in Figure 23 Four of thee hyperbola intersect ae shown in ge ture 24 a three charactrstie points p, 7 with nora: P= (AM 07.) = 4 (0h AM $= (618..,.618..) ‘Therefore, the ay numba ofthe ancient Romsn sytem of proportions V2 and 9 (aso refered to Jn modam dynamical astems theory asthe "silver ‘mean? [13], end the gelden mean r are represented ina single diagram. The gerald Brune ta shown in Figure 25. The points of imersection le ‘on the odes of the thes inner squares. ‘The adge length ofthe iaermoet equre i 7-8, the middle square i 1/3, and the outer square 7! = Y2—1 cet of Auelant Geometry cs [Figure 26: The aqual-tempered chromatic sete and the color whee. 7 What Pleases the Ear Should Please the Eye We have sin that 3,4,etranges pervade the runes star Not all teadionshipe valving the ruber 3,4, and § ref to the 3.5ight rian fe Such ralatonshipe play a major cle in the Eructure ofthe mal sale and make «surprise ‘sppenance inthe tructare ofthe olor epeetram of Teh whieh coud be tought of as kind of “msl ‘al eae" for the eye, Bsewbece I Have shown that ‘he ancient musical scale in wich tones ate asso fiat withthe ratio of seing lengths, So organaed tbye4,5elationship betwee tho tenes [14 Alan, if we regard the 12 sectors ofthe ciclo as toes of ‘he equal tempered ciromatic neal, were in Fi ‘ue 26 that a subdivision of the tonal cee into 3, ‘and § semitones gives vie to the topes ACE ofthe museal A mince triad [| The association Vetoes one nd number ratios led the architects ‘ofthe Italian Rensimnce to buld a system of fhiteeturl peopertions based on the smusicl scale 4, ‘According tothe lading architect ofthat period, ‘Leon Balista Alberti 20} The numbers by which ‘he ngroement of ssc act oa ers with delight faze te very sama which please our eyes and our tind. We sal therefore borow alla rules fr Ihsmonie relations from the miscarto whom his ‘ind of surbere i well own and wherein Nature shows herelf mort exellent and compete” Eber hart (6 bos mde the observation that the wave- lets of visible Tight occu over a range betwen 380 mye (oilimierons; 1 mys = 10-em) in the ‘wavilet range to about twice that arpount in the lnftared, or a visual “octave He stats, When the colors of visible light are sped ut in Such a way that oqul dit feyeneesin wavelength ale equal amounts ‘of pte, estan ot that bine and ye Tow occupy relatively narrow bands while ‘lot gracn end wr ae brn [ore Fl Ure 7|) Observe thatthe dreance from {he utraviclet real to ble to yellow to the infarc resold is very closely 23: 5 of that spectral “octave, Len SRS... 2027 a5 ms (mid be) fd SRI. x 2792 = 97485. mye {ald yellow). This means that if we sub- Joctvely Identify the two threstolds of Uutavilet and infare, as is commonly done in making color wheels, cali both stems simply “orgie” then the nar ‘ow bands af “luo” and “yellow” have ap- procimate centers lying at corners of the Sanne triangle with 345 proportions a the ‘Alnor triad [see Figure 26) Bhechar’'s observation ads some additonal sub- stanc ta the Rensisaanes credo that what pleases ‘he ear alo pleases the eye 8 Conclusion Acroring to Plato, the mature of things and the ‘Mructare of the tnivero In in the sty of musi, etronomy, geometry end nurabers, the socalled ‘Guidivum, Dull into mszed structures would be ‘ot only a ccbteat geometrical ordar but also 8 Sense ofthe eon der in terms ofthe eves of 1) Figure 27; Color Seale ‘the sun snd the moon and the hasmonies of the proximately equate the srl, is uipastioning properties seatonahip to cates, and ‘Re ably to be gneralied to geometical figure ehibiting the golden and slver mean mes ft plansible tool or uve ofthe bilder of scents (rad structures References [tJ G. Adamson, 194, Private communication, (2) B. Arimann, The cloister of Hauterio. The Mathematica Intligencer, 192} 49, 1861 (8) Booths. Boethis” GeometrieI F. Stener Weisbaden, 1970, Translated by Mens Folk: (e) T.Brunas, The Serets of Ancient Geometry And lis Uses Rhodes, Copeniges, 1067 [6] R.A. Scwate i Lubicz, The Tempe of Man, Inner ‘Traditions Pres, 1996, ‘Translated by Rand D. Lawler (6) S. Eberhart, Mathematics Thrwugh the Lib ful Arta: A Hanan Apprach. U. of Call. at Northridge, 1998, Lect notes, Geometry at Work. fH] M. Gasha, The Geometry of Art ond Life Dover, New York, 198 (8) 4. Hambridge. The Fundamental Prineples of Dynami Symmetry as They are Bepressed in [atore and Art Glovester Act, Albergueraue, am (9)3, Keppra. Connections: The Geometric “indye between Art and Sones, McGraw Hil, [New York, 100 (00, 3. Kappa. Secrets of ancient geometry? An Inteodctin tothe gremetry of Tous Br, Unpublished monograph, 109. [01] 3. Kaporal, The Mathematics of Design A ft of II videotapes preduend by the Center for Distance Learning and the Media Center of NDFT, 1093, Videotape 4 102) 3. Kappraf Linking the musical proportions Of Renaissance, the Modlor, and Rota sys terns of proportions, Space Strucres, 11. tnd 2), 1096 [13] 3. Kappraf. Musical proportions at the bac Sis of stems of arcitcrarl proportions. XK. Willams, itr, Maus 8 Eton! Dell Do, Pusch, 1006 [14] J. Kappratt Mathematien beyond Measure ‘A Random Walt trough Nature, Myth and ‘Number. Plenum Prose, New Voc, 198, 15] H. Kayser. Haroneat Studies: Harmon ‘eal anal of «proportion study ina shetch- ook of the medevet Gothic architec. Vib lard de Honnecourt, 1946. Its tle is “Ein Hacmonihaler Talusgskanon” (A Harnoaleal Divisin-Cancn) (06) A. Tyg. Ceometsic extensions of concious ews. Zoic, 1, 1960 (07) HLF. Verhayen, The iosahedral dsign ofthe ‘Great Pyramid. la. Hargits, editor, Fefld Spmery. Word Scientie, Sngsoore, 1992, (18) D. J. Watts. Private communication, (19) D. J. Watts and C. Watts. A Roman fapartinet complex Scintife American, 288(6):182-140, December 1986 [20] R. Witthower. Architecture én the Age of He anism. Norton, New York, 1971

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