A history of folding in mathematics. Mathematizing the margins (Q1704459)

In this truly wonderful book, the author has succeeded in giving a thorough history and a description of techniques which until now have played (and still play) a marginal role; the techniques of folding. Isn't it fascinating that a cube may be doubled and an angle trisected by simply folding a sheet of paper? In the introduction, the scene is set and some witty remarks on the why and how of marginalisation of folding techniques in the tradition of mathematics are being made. The second chapter is concerned with the folding of polyhedra and starts with Albrecht Dürer in the 16th century. Dürer's nets of polyhedra are discussed in detail and drawings are given in abundance. The chapter ends with Luca Pacioli's way of thinking about folding which are quite different from Dürer's thought and was quickly forgotten. The author speculates that it may have been the late introduction of paper to the Latin West which prevented foldings becoming seriously considered mathematical tools like the circle and the straightedge. A second obstacle may have been that folding can only be thought of in terms of motion and the mixture of motion and mathematics was seen as a kind of impurity in the Middle Ages well into the modern age (Napier was criticised for having introduced logarithms by an argument on motion still in the 17th century). The third chapter prepares developments having taken place in the 19th century in looking at the medieval Arabic scene and the 18th century in Europe. The 19th century is in the focus of Chapter 4. Topics considered are paper models; a detour into the realm of chemistry is taken, and folding in the kindergarten and its influence on mathematics is discussed. In the 5th chapter, the author takes a close look at the 20th century. Starting with classical folding, the mathematics of this century eventually led to convolutions (Faltungen) in an abstract sense where no longer paper foldings come into ones mind. The final 6th chapter concerns the axiomatisations of the fold in the realm of geometry. Apparently, after centuries, we now can imagine accepting folding as a truly mathematical concept. The book ends with the English translation of an important paper by Margherita Beloch Piazolla on some applications of paper folding and an interesting critique of Deleuze's book `The fold: Leibniz and the Baroque'. The bibliography is extensive and leaves nothing to be desired. The book is very readable and should be consulted not only by professional mathematicians but by any mathematically inclined and historically interested readers.