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Math professor is in the Zome

March 21, 2007

KALAMAZOO--A Western Michigan University assistant professor of mathematics is constructing a large Zome model on campus this weekend to build interest in geometry.

Dr. David Richter will be leading a team in the construction of the structure starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 24, in the Lee Honors College main lounge. The physical model will represent an arrangement of 120 identical objects in four-dimensional space, and Richter is characterizing it as a Zome "barn raising." The construction project is expected to take two to three hours.

The word Zome is a fusion of the words zone and dome. The underlying geometry of Zome is based on a system of 31 families of mutually parallel lines. These families are called zones. The word dome comes from the fact that the Zome was originally designed in the 1960s as a building framework by an architect. The Zome System emerged in 1992 as an educational toy.

While the geometric design Richter will be using has existed for about 150 years, this would be the first time a Zome or any other three-dimensional model has been completed from this particular design, he says.

For more information about this highly visual activity or to help with the project, contact Dr. David Richter at david.richter@wmich.edu or come to the event on Saturday.

Media contact: Deanne Molinari, (269) 387-8400, deanne.molinari@wmich.edu

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