How to Draw a Straight Line? The Mathematics of Linkages

Professor Alain Goriely FRS

Geometry

A sharpened wooden pencil tip touching a straight black horizontal line on a textured off-white paper background

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Event information

Date: Tuesday, 9 Mar 2027

Time: 18:00

Type: Lecture

Location: Holborn

Venue: Barnard's Inn Hall

Topics: Maths Technology Science

Part of:

Toy Models and Model Toys: The Mathematics of Fun and the Art of Modelling

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A central problem of designing machine is to control the motion of some parts. For instance: how can a machine draw a perfect straight line using only rigid bars and rotating joints?

Beginning with the basic idea of a linkage, this lecture explains how geometric constraints translate into motion and why circular arcs arise so naturally. The mathematical problem is then to understand all possible motion with such linkage assembly, linking abstract geometry to concrete mechanical motion.

Professor Alain Goriely FRS

Gresham Professor of Geometry

Alain Goriely is a mathematician with broad interests in mathematical methods, mechanics, sciences, and engineering. He is well known for his contributions to dynamical systems...

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