Coxeter on people and polytopes (Q1777525)

Rowe describes some aspects of the legacy of H. S. M. Coxeter in the history of mathematics and points out that Coxeter enriched our historical understanding of how classical geometry helped inspire what has sometimes been called the nineteenth century's non-Euclidean revolution. Rowe focuses on Coxeter's work on polytopes and has a thorough look at Coxeter's classical book ``Regular Polytopes'' published in 1948 which summarized a 24-year labour and contained a lot of historical remarks in a style that is typical of Coxeter. Following Coxeter's description he especially appreciates L. Schläfli who introduced the now standard Schläfli symbol and who was the first to recognize that we get ``Exotic polytopes'' only in dimension three and four. Furtheron Rowe discusses the work of W. I. Stringham, his influence on modern art and gives an impression of Coxeter's attitude to the intuitive approach to the fourth dimension. This leads directly to Coxeter's friendship with Alicia Boole Stott as well as the relations and the genealogy of the Boole family. Rowe closes his fine and interesting portrayal of Coxeter and his world of polytopes with a look at Coxeter as promoter of geometrical art and his friendship to M. C. Escher.