Mathematical models

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Scientific head of the mathematical models collection : François Apéry (francois.apery@uha.fr)

At the IHP's inauguration in 1928, the Laboratory of Geometry from the Faculty of Sciences at University of Paris transferred its books and mathematical models to the IHP's library. The collection counts more than six hundred models of plaster, wood, wire or thread. Most models were created by Martin Schilling in Leipzig between 1900 and 1920 and a few of them (those made of wood) were done between 1912 and 1915 by Joseph Caron, Professor of Descriptive Geometry in charge of the "graphical work" course at the ENS in the beginning of the century.

These mathematical models, whose main original purpose was educational, where conceived for practical lessons. Isabelle Fortuné*—author of a Master's thesis in the History of Art in 1998 about Man Ray (University of Paris I)—quotes Henri Vuibert who wrote in 1912: "To help students see in space, we materialized the main figures of geometry and descriptive geometry. The use of figures in relief will provide invaluable assistance to education, especially if they are built by the students themselves." (In Henry Vuibert. The Anaglyphs geometric. Paris: Librairie Vuibert, 1912, p. 8).

In the thirties, the surrealists—led by Max Ernst—were interested in these geometric objects. André Breton alludes to them in Crise de l'objet, an article in the magazine Cahiers d'Art (May 1936, No. 1-2, p. 21-26). Man Ray took photographs of some models, which where published in this same issue. He would later use them to compose a serie of paintings he called the Shakespearean Equations. Many artists, painters, architects and sculptors drew inspiration from those objects.

Currently, nearly one hundred of these objects are on permanent display in the library.

The first crowdfunding campaign led by the Fonds de dotation de l'Institut Henri Poincaré, and managed under the library's care, was meant to restore 30 models. The campaign happened between October 10 and Novembre 19, 2017 and was a great success. More information here.  

*Isabelle Fortuné, « Man Ray et les objets mathématiques », Études photographiques, 6 | Mai 1999, [En ligne]. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/etudesphotographiques/190. Consulté le 22 mars 2018.

Update: 2020-03-24