Bridges and Wheels, Tricycles and Squares
Mathematical Moments from the American Mathematical Society
English - October 13, 2023 14:33 - 11 minutes - 16.9 MB - ★★★★ - 10 ratingsNatural Sciences Science Technology mathematical moments Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
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Dr. Stan Wagon of Macalester College discusses the mathematics behind rolling a square smoothly.
In 1997, inspired by a square wheel exhibit at The Exploratorium museum in San Francsico, Dr. Stan Wagon enlisted his neighbor Loren Kellen in building a square-wheeled tricycle and accompanying catenary track. For years, you could ride the tricycle at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. The National Museum of Mathematics in New York now also has square-wheeled tricycles that can be ridden around a circular track. And more recently, the impressive Cody Dock Rolling Bridge was built using rolling square mathematics by Thomas Randall-Page in London.