Painting - <I>Euclidian Values of a Squared Circle</I>
date: label: date made
content: ca 1970
name: label: painter
content: Johnson, Crockett
notes: label: Description
content: To "square" a figure, according to the classical Greek tradition, means to construct, with the aid of only straightedge and compass, a square equal in area to that of the figure. The Greeks could square numerous figures, but were unsuccessful in efforts to square a circle. It was not until the 19th century that the impossibility of squaring a circle was demonstrated.
label: Description
content: This painting is an original construction by Crockett Johnson. It begins with the assumprion that the circle has been squared. In this case, Crockett Johnson performed a sequence of constructions that produce several additional squares, rectangles, and circles whose areas are geometrically related to that of the original circle. These figures are produced using traditional Euclidean geometry, and require only straightedge and compass.
label: Description
content: The painting on masonite is #102 in the series. It has a blue-black background and a metal frame. It shows various superimposed sections of circles, squares, and rectangles in shades of light blue, dark blue, purple, white and blue-black. It is unsigned. See 1979.3083.02.13.
label: Description
content: References: Carl B. Boyer and Uta C. Merzbach, <I>A History of Mathematics</I> (1991), Chapter 5.
label: Description
content: Crockett Johnson, "A Geometrical Look at the Square Root of Pi," <I>Mathematical Gazette</I> 54 (February, 1970): pp. 59–60.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Crockett Johnson
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content: Art
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Ruth Krauss in memory of Crockett Johnson
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1979.1093.69
label: catalog number
content: 1979.1093.69
label: accession number
content: 1979.1093
objectType: label: Object Name
content: painting
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: masonite (substrate material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (frame material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 122.5 cm x 82 cm x 2.5 cm; 48 1/4 in x 32 5/16 in x in