da Vinci's Dodecahedron

Posted: October 22, 2019

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Purchase Details

$39

Dodec out your desktop* with a 21st century take on Leonardo da Vinci's 15th century Dodecahedron. You don't have to be into RPG to appreciate this 12-sided geometric shape, especially once you hear the story of its origins, and how design studio AltDynamic brought da Vinci's Dodecahedron to life.

Amongst his myriad accomplishments, da Vinci figured out how to draw 3D shapes using the edges rather than the faces of objects. His skills led to a gig illustrating a math textbook, and in it, he included a sketch of his skeletal Dodecahedron. As a geometric shape, the Dodecahedron has fascinated mathematicians and scientists for 2,000+ years; Plato and other Greek philosophers felt it represented the universe, while Renaissance scholars geeked out on its use of the golden ratio.

da Vinci's ability to "see" and sketch the Dodecahedron, perfectly and from memory, is just one more feather in the polymath's cap. For their part, AltDynamic has been able to transfer da Vinci's Dodecahedron sketches into the 3D versions you see here, adding their own feat of design to the mix by machining the shapes from solid blocks of metal. They say it's the first time anyone has done it.

da Vinci's Dodecahedron by way of AltDynamic seeks Kickstarter funding through November 4, 2019. Backers can choose from 8 different colors and, in return for their pledge, will receive one or more skeletal Dodecahedrons about 2" tall and 2.5" wide, a little smaller than a tennis ball. Click here to check out the campaign and get a da Vinci design of your own.

*Or your pepperoni pizza, as in the image gallery above. Guess AltDynamic figured one fine way to showcase their piece of mathematical genius was alongside an equally beautiful expression of pi.

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