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Penrose Stairway

\begin{figure}\begin{center}\BoxedEPSF{PenroseStairway.epsf scaled 700}\end{center}\end{figure}

An Impossible Figure (also called the Schroeder Stairs) in which a stairway in the shape of a square appears to circulate indefinitely while still possessing normal steps. The Dutch artist M. C. Escher included Penrose stairways in many of his mind-bending illustrations.

See also Impossible Figure


References

Hofstadter, D. R. Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. New York: Vintage Books, p. 15, 1989.

Jablan, S. ``Impossible Figures.'' http://members.tripod.com/~modularity/impos.htm.

Pappas, T. ``Optical Illusions and Computer Graphics.'' The Joy of Mathematics. San Carlos, CA: Wide World Publ./Tetra, p. 5, 1989.

Robinson, J. O. and Wilson, J. A. ``The Impossible Colonnade and Other Variations of a Well-Known Figure.'' Brit. J. Psych. 64, 363-365, 1973.




© 1996-9 Eric W. Weisstein
1999-05-26