The students of the ``Systematic deviations from ordinary rectilinear construction'' in the Athenian Parthenon (Q1371294)

Certain small ``systematic deviations from the straight line'' were engineered by Athenian architects of the 5th century B.C. with the aim of attaining visual aesthetic excellence for certain sacred buildings on the Acropolis. Buildings where aesthetic appeal (based to some extent on mathematical calculations) precedes fitness for structural function are rare. This paper describes briefly works of mainly 18th and 19th century architects who were interested in the phenomenon and who attempted to describe and explain it. They and their major related works are as follows: Vitruvius (around 1st century B.C.), \textit{The Ten Books on Architecture}; James Stuart (1713-1788), \textit{The Antiquities of Athens}; Nicholas Revett (1720-1784); John Pennethorne (1808-1888), \textit{The Geometry and Optics of Ancient Architecture}; Francis Cranmer Penrose (1817-1903), \textit{Anomalies in the (Ordinary Rectilineal) Construction of the Parthenon, Principles of Athenian Architecture}; William Watkiss Lloyd (1813-1893); Thomas Leverton Donaldson (1795-1885); Charles Robert Cockerell (1788-1863).