Geometric Model by Robert Chaffe, a Student of A. Harry Wheeler, Hyperbolic Paraboloid
date: label: date made
content: 1937
name: label: teacher of maker
content: Wheeler, Albert Harry
label: maker
content: Chaffe, Robert
notes: label: Description
content: Suppose two opposite sides of a rectangle are joined by straight lines parallel to the other two sides. Lifting two opposite corners of the rectangle—and keeping the lines taut—one obtains a saddle-shaped figure known as a hyperbolic paraboloid.
label: Description
content: This model of a hyperbolic paraboloid was made from balsa wood by Robert Chaffe, a high school student of A. Harry Wheeler in the class of 1937. It is likely that this person is Robert C. Chaffe (1918–1991) who was born in Connecticut, attended high school in Worcester, Massachusetts, graduated from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1942, and seems to have spent his career as a salesman and sales engineer in Worcester and nearby Auburn.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: Gerd Fischer, <I>Mathematical Models</I>, vol. 2, Braunschweig/Wiesbaden: Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, 1986, pp. 3–4.
label: Description
content: U.S. Census records.
label: Description
content: Massachusetts city directories.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Worcester
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Mathematical Association of America Objects
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Helen M. Wheeler
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.304723.180
label: accession number
content: 304723
label: catalog number
content: 304723.180
objectType: label: Object Name
content: geometric model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood, balsa (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: tan (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: cut and glued (overall production method/technique)
label: Measurements
content: average spatial: 12.5 cm x 21.6 cm x 15.5 cm; 4 29/32 in x 8 1/2 in x 6 3/32 in