From: Charles J Knight (c.knight_at_juno.com)
Date: 03/21/99
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 23:16:12 +0000 Subject: Re: geometry Message-ID: <19990321.231620.9382.3.c.knight@juno.com> From: Charles J Knight <c.knight_at_juno.com>
>: [Bucky] also drew up plans for tetrahedral city-structures which
>
>A tetrahedron has the highest surface/volume ratio *of Platonic
>solids*, but why restrict the design to Platonic solids?
>A flat slab has an even higher ratio. Indeed why need it be
>convex? Why not a starfish shape, with multiple semi-enclosed
>harbors?
Well...that's what Bucky designed, and his rationale for it. You are,
of course, correct about it being the best choice of the platonic solids,
but he chose it for another reason too.
The tetrahedron has a "sloping" side, which if terraced, provided a
degree of safety. This was a structure the height of a skyscraper,
so "falling out" was a concern for him. Stepped terraces would only
allow one to fall out and down one story...comparatively minor.
Hey...made sense to me.
-- Chuck Knight
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