Harmonic Proportion and Form in Nature, Art and Architecture by Samuel Colman

Author:Samuel Colman [Colman, Samuel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780486162195
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 2012-10-11T05:00:00+00:00

Plate 147—Spider’s Web

Plate 148—Nest of Willow Leaf Roller

On the lower arc of the quadrant of this diagram the principle is described whereby the spider accurately secures correct progressions which come on the regular lines radiating from the common centre; for at each step the leg is passed from a to b, placing at the point c the position of the next series of lines. The silk is now fastened at a, and this process is repeated until the web is complete, the length of the leg producing that regularity of form which renders the proportional spaces. Of course this result cannot be always exact as the spider is so frequently interrupted, but every passage of continuous work is quite perfect, the resultant circles progressing in harmonic order. Gravity now comes in to make the web even more beautiful, as from each point of intersection of the silk the catenary curve is developed, each curve differing from its neighbor by the regular progression throughout the structure. The question may well be asked: Would this architectonic object be any more beautiful if less mathematical?

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