Main Index Page

Last updated 28/3/2024

x

When made of paper a Mobius Band can be considered to be a folded paper object even though it does not contain any creases.

**********

c200 - 250 BC

The earliest known image of a Mobius Band is found in the central part of a mosaic from a Roman villa in Sentinum which can be dated to around 200–250CE. This Mobius Band is probably not a representation of an actual object. An untwisted band is found in other similar portrayals of this mythical scene. Information from 'Mobius strips before Mobius: Topological hints in ancient representations' by Julyan H. E. Cartwrigh and Diego L. Gonzalez available online at https://arxiv.org/pdf/1609.07779.pdf.

**********

1206

A pumping mechanism using Mobius Band topology is found in the 'Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices' written by Al-Jazari in 1206. Information from 'Mobius strips before Mobius: Topological hints in ancient representations' by Julyan H. E. Cartwrigh and Diego L. Gonzalez available online at https://arxiv.org/pdf/1609.07779.pdf.

**********

1858

In 1858 Johann Benedict Listing (1808 - 1882), a German mathematician, made notes containing a description of a Mobius Band, which were not, however, published until 1861.

Also in 1858, but a few months later, another German mathematician, August Ferdinand Möbius, made a similar discovery. This was not published until 1865 (after his death).

Both men had studied under Carl Friedrich Gauss, the best German mathematician of the era, and it is possible that Gauss was the common factor in these discoveries. Information from 'History of the Möbius Band' https://sites.google.com/site/themobiusbandart/history-of-the-moebius-band.

I do not know if either of these discoveries involved paperfolding.

The Setinum mosaic pictured above has been in the possession of the Glyptothek Museum in Munich since 1828. It is therefore possible that either Gauss, Listing or Mobius might have seen this early depiction of a Mobius Band and have been influenced by it.

**********

1890

The Boy's Own paper no 589 of 26th April 1890 contained an article entitled 'A Glimpse of the 'Fourth Dimension'' by Rev. J. B. Bartlett which described how to make a Mobius Band (without naming it or giving its origin) and how to cut it to produce double length and linked bands.

**********

The Afghan Bands / Les Anneaux Mysterieuse - 1887 onwards

**********

How to Flatten a Mobius Band into a Regular Hexagon with a 'Coup de Poing' - 1893 onwards

**********