ARCHIMEDES' SQUARE by Kadon

This 14-tile dissection is the oldest documented puzzle in the world, and the decipherment of Archimedes' rediscovered manuscript is a hot topic among historical scholars and mathematicians. Also known as the Stomachion, it even made the front page of the New York Times, December 14, 2003. Luminous transparent colors in a sculpted 7" acrylic tray. Long unanswered: Just how many ways can this square be solved? On October 31, 2003, Bill Cutler's program found the full answer of 536 distinct solutions. How many other convex shapes can the 14 tiles make? Bernd Rennhak in Germany found all 637 solutions. He also found that the set can solve 13 of the 14 tetratan shapes. The permutations are staggering. An amazing fact is that each tile's area is a whole number, based on the square as a 12x12 matrix. That gives each of the 3 colors we added an equal share of the total area. Here truly is ancient genius made visible. Some of the tiles have sharp points, so we recommend ages careful 10 to adult.