Adventures with Lissajous figures /
Thomas B. Greenslade Jr.
- 1 online resource (various pagings) : illustrations (some color).
- [IOP release 4] IOP concise physics, 2053-2571 .
- IOP (Series). Release 4. IOP concise physics. .
"Version: 20180601"--Title page verso. "A Morgan & Claypool publication as part of IOP Concise Physics"--Title page verso.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Preliminaries -- 1.1. Some mathematics -- 1.2. How Lissajous figures are formed 2. History -- 2.1. Nathaniel Bowditch and the Y-shaped pendulum -- 2.2. Jules Lissajous and his tuning forks -- 2.3. Hubert Airy's harmonographs 3. Harmonographs of all sorts -- 3.1. Oscillating mirrors -- 3.2. The kaleidophone -- 3.3. Oscillating blades -- 3.4. Pendulum harmonographs -- 3.5. The Y-shaped pendulum -- 3.6. The two-speaker apparatus -- 3.7. Other harmonographs of unusual design -- 3.8. The oscilloscope -- 3.9. The animated harmonograph -- 3.10. Harmonograph 'toys' -- 4. Lovely Lissajous figures.
Lissajous Figures are produced by combining two oscillations at right angles to each other. The figures, drawn by mechanical devices called harmonographs, have scientific uses, but are also enjoyed for their own beauty. The author has been working with harmonographs since his undergraduate days, building several of them, lecturing on them and has written articles about them. This book is intended for people who enjoy physics or art or both
Mode of access: World Wide Web. System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader, EPUB reader, or Kindle reader.
Thomas Greenslade received an A.B. in physics from Amherst College in 1959 and a doctorate in experimental low temperature physics from Rutgers University in 1965. From 1964 to 2005 he taught physics at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Since retiring he has continued writing and lecturing about early apparatus. He has been fascinated by Lissajous figures and the harmonographs used to draw them since his undergraduate days.