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Lesson Plans


MC Escher: his father's formula for a wife

[ Thread ][ Subject ][ Author ][ Date ]
John Bibby, QED of York, York, England (qed)
Sun, 26 Oct 1997 23:26:06 +0000

Can anyone throw any light on the following, or do you
know anyone who can? I need it for an Escher "calendar" I am writing
for 1998, his centenary year.

According to Locher (1, p.10) Escher's father had an equation
relating the men's ages (m) and those of their ideal woman partner
(w). It was:
w = 1/2 m + 10
or, in words, the woman's age is half the man's age plus 10.
(No MCP comments, please, this was in 1878!)

Later on the same page, he refers to Escher's second wife, who was 38
when they married (Escher was 55). Locher writes "The great
difference in their ages - seventeen years - did not satisfy the
formula (given above) ..."

Now, my calculations show that m=55 and w=37 are as good a fit to the
formula as any 55-year old person can expect! So what is Locher
trying to say? (or is it just that he has misused the formula? - or
have I?)

All comments/suggestions gratefully recieved!

JOHN BIBBY

*** NB: NEW PHONE AND FAX NUMBERS from August '97:
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John Bibby
QED of York
Educational Resource Centre Specialising in Maths and Science
1 Straylands Grove
York YO3 0EB, England
Tel: 01904-424242; Fax: 01904-424381
Email: qed
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