Games with geometrical figures

27 29 2 4 13 36 111
9 11 20 22 31 18 1'11
32 25 7 3 21 23 1'11
14 16 34 30 12 5 111
28 6 15 17 26 19 111
1 24 33 35 8 10 111

Above A Ch nese mag c square of

order 6. dating from about A D 1590
Chinese mathematic ans were among
the early students of the numerical
and geometrcal features of such
squares The Lo shu is a third order
magic square (Fig 29) known since
the 4th century B C and accorded ill ill ill ill ill ill 111
special rel gious signif cance
Right. The same square in Arabic
numerals All the co umns rows and
diagonals add up to 1It

diagonals have the same sum. The number n is cut in wood or other materials once served as
called the order, base, module, or root of the amulets and to this day are used in some parts of
square. the East. In the 16th and 17th centuries people
The square's mathematical properties have believed a magic square engraved on a small
captured the imagination of scientists since the silver tablet could protect them from the plague.
origins of arithmetic and geometry; many of the The aura of magic surrounding these squares
ancient scientists attributed magical and caba- is partly based on the surprising number of com-
listic virtues to the square. Magic squares were binations that can be fashioned with them. Con-
known in India, and from there came to the West, sider the Lo shu, the oldest and simplest of magic
probably through the Arabs. During the Renais- squares. Is there a method for constructing a
sance, a period of extensive inquiry, the mathe- magic square? First, we list the eight ways in
matician Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535) worked
on magic squares of orders greater than 2. Order 9 +5 +1 = 15
1 is trivial, and it can be proven that there is no
magic square of order 2. (If in doubt, try to con- 9 + 4+2 =15
struct one.) From this Agrippa deduced that the 8 +6 +1 =15
ancient Greek philosophy incorporating four ele-
ments (fire, water, air and earth) as first principles 8 + 5 +2 =15
was inadequate. 8 + 4 +3
Agrippa constructed magic squares of orders 3
=15
to 9 inclusive and gave them an astronomical 7 + 6+2 =15
meaning. They symbolized the seven planets
known at the time (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Ve-
7 + 5+3 =15
nus, Mercury, Moon). Copies of magic squares fig 30 6 + 5 +4 =15
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 Games with geometrical figures
Left Leonardo da Vnci s Canone Opposite A orecht Durer s
,'.>G
;t-,re I
- - f^i-W
Af 7,w.....
eas'
,-#
- , -;-_ delle proporzioni de/ corpo umano Melencoliraerigravng 15t14) D rng
Rue for the proportions of the human the Renaissance w th the renewal of
of. - l
interest n the arts and so ences two
figure, according to V truv us Ga ler e
7/ de I Accademia Ven ce art sts to show partial ar fasc oat on
Below Leonardo s sketch for a se f- w th mathematics and geometry were
mcving vehicle powered by two large Leonardo and Durer This picture
spr ngs and steered by a handle reveal s a mag c square of order 4
fixed to a sma rear wheel to symbol ze melancho y then
cons dered an energy zing cond t on
The ast ne of the Square rd cates
sheyear of compose t on 1514

l
/
I
i

'O e- - s,
-...

which the number 15 can be produced from the ner. Given the square's symmetry, there can be
first nine natural numbers (Fig. 30). Note that each two cases-mirror images of each other.
number appears only once. Therefore we must
arrange the triplets of equal sum (in Fig. 30, the
first two, for example, share the nine) in such a More intricate magic squares
way that two of them have one number in com-
mon. This is possible because the square has The Renaissance was a period of cultural and
eight lines (three rows, three columns, two diago- artistic revival throughout 15th and 16th century
nals) that must add up to 15, and these corre- Europe and touched all branches of learning. The
spond to the eight possibilities of Fig. 30. To fill the development of mathematics and geometry was
compartments, remember that each number can remarkable and, indeed, their influence extended
occur only once. Take the central compartment: It to the figurative and architectonic arts for which
must appear in four triplets (one row, one column, they became a model and reference point. All
two diagonals). The only such number is 5. Next these trends came together in the person of
consider the corners: Each must contain a num- Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), scientist, writer,
ber that appears in three triplets (one row, one man of letters, engineer, mathematician and art-
column, one diagonal). Fig. 30 indicates there are ist. For da Vinci, mathematics and geometry were
only four such numbers: 8, 6, 4, 2. closely linked to mans' artistic and cultural en-
We could have reasoned the other way around deavors. In a no longer extant treatise on painting,
and counted how many times a number appeared De picture, he wrote: "Do not read me if you are
in the set of triplets, and then deduced its position no mathematician." Actually Plato (428-348 B.C.)
in the square. For example, 9 occurs only twice, made the connection long before da Vinci and
and therefore cannot be at the center or in a cor- even saw fit to place this warning over the en-

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Games with geometrical figures

45