A Different View Tetralith Phil Rayplanes Octalith Modular Configurations Synergetic Realm U.S.Patent

TETRANOMETRY

a RAYPLAN modeling theorem which

incorporates interlocking Quantum

strings into a Quantum membrane

which in turn approximates the

physical properties of the

CARBON ATOM.

Modeling examples are

Buckminsterfullerenes buckyballs fullerenes C60, Nanotubes

buckytubes, Graphite, Diamonds and Helix coil tubes

which are the frame work of

Deoxyribonucleic acid

DNA.

Using common inexpensive materials such as concrete and high carbon steel wire reinforcing, the RAYPLANE can be constructed into Geodesic domes and shell construction of gigantic size dwarfing conventional structures here on earth. In space where compression forces due to gravity are eliminated the RAYPLANE becomes an outstanding tensile element. Its modular design along with its ability to nest makes its use unlimited.

#1

Around 300 B.C. the Greek mathematician Euclid is said to have taught and founded a school at Alexandria. His book the 'Elements' along with later books written by Archimedes defined and laid the foundation of modern geometry. Both the hyperbolic and the parabolic shapes were defined but apparently the combined shape of the hyperbolic paraboloid was not addressed in a manner that recognized that the surface of a warped plane generated from straight line elements can define the vertices or points of a tetrahedron. Or two pairs of opposite edges of any shaped tetrahedron, regular or otherwise can be used to generate a hyperbolic paraboloid.

Photo #1 is a model of hyperbolic paraboloids. Their shape is made up of straight line elements. These particular hyperbolic paraboloids have vertices which are located equal distance apart and their edges are equal in length.

The mind of the human individual is shaped by each individual's experiences. We call the summation of these experiences reality. Jonathan Swift and Louis Carrol in their classics "Gulliver's Travels" and "Alice in Wonderland" describe realities which are different than the reality of a contemporary individual schooled in the tradition of western reasoning.

By thinking back into history, back before Isaac Newton, Euclid, Plato, Socrates, and Pythagoras, back in time before man had made his first six-sided stone monolith or brick out of mud we can imagine what might have taken place. By taking a handful of mud, shaping it into a ball and flattening the ball in a special way one could make the ball of mud six-sided, put it into the sun to dry and call this cubic object a brick. With this object one could build an arch and later a dome.

Since that time our ancestors have made many arches and domes, and this six-sided 'View' has produced the reality that we live in today: Ours is a reality of up or down, top or bottom, front or back, left or right, right or wrong, black or white, a neat little reality all held together by the force of gravity. Today, as we go into space, we enter a realm where our arches and domes fly apart. We do not have gravity as a bonding agent in space as we do on earth. What would our reality be and what would the tools of reasoning be like if our ancestors had decided to make their mud balls, or carved their stones not into a six-sided object but into a simpler four-sided object? It appears that when nature started evolving life forms, she picked the simpler four- sided configuration built around the carbon molecule. It is possible that if our ancestors had chosen the four-sided tetrahedron instead of the six-sided cube, our view of modern reality might have evolved with a 'Different View.' Even our tools of reasoning would have been different. Would we still have a base 10 number system where we square or cube a number instead of triangling or tetrahedroning it? Would we be as comfortable with 90 degree or right angle construction which is so rarely used in nature, or even more rarely used within the organic realm?

R. Buckminster Fuller takes a 'Different View' in his books, "Synergetics I and II". He explores reality in a four-sided way, but even Fuller uses western logic based around a system of mass where the basic building blocks of reality are constructed of sypherical atoms. Once more think back into time, and instead of making bricks, let's look at another ancient skill, the skill of weaving and basket making. Actually, as we venture out into space, this ancient art form has applications more appropriate than brick making. In fact modern man has been so, busy making bricks, arches, domes, and tin-can space stations that we have neglected weaving and its tensile design potential.

Weave a flat matt out of sticks, straight sticks, and interlace them together so we have four edges and four vertices. The angles that the edges form at the vertices will add up to 360 degrees if all of the edges lie in the same plane.

Let us take a 'Different View' and weave our straight sticks together in a manner where the edges are in different planes. Now measure the angles that the sides form and they add up to less than 360 degrees. We have formed a hyperbolic paraboloid. Let us call it an HP for short. Look at the surface of the HP and you can see that it curves two ways at the same time and it is still made up of straight line elements. Now let us get fancy with our weaving and invent way to weave three HPs together in a manner where each HP shares two sides in common; this will form an object which has six edges and four vertices like a tetrahedron. Since this object does not have flat faces we will name this invention a TETRALITH.

Tetralith

Photo #2

Merge three hyperbolic paraboloids in a manner where they have a common midpoint and together they make up a three dimensional solid which is given the name, TETRALITH.

The tetralith has four vertices and six edges like a tetrahedron. It is a three dimensional object made up of straight line segments like the tetrahedron, but its faces are made up of three small hyperbolic paraboloid planes which converge at a common midpoint.

Photo #2 pictures three separate hyperbolic paraboloids before they are merged and a tetralith which has been assembled by merging three hyperbolic paraboloids.

In order to make the TETRALITH easier to understand and work with let us separate it into four parts by making a cut from the center of each edge to the common mid-point. The TETRALITH comes apart into four three-sided objects. We will name this invention a PHIL.

Phil

Photo #3

The phil fills in each corner of the tetralith. A phil is an inclosed object which has five vertices, six linear edges and surfaces made up of small hyperbolic paraboloids.

Photo #3 shows a tetralith before and after being taken apart into four phils.

When the PHIL is analyzed it becomes apparent that each PHIL is made up of one part of each of our larger HPs. If we take the PHIL apart at each of its edges we have three small HPs. We will name this invention a RAYPLANE. Therefore a TETRALITH can be divided into twelve RAYPLANES.

Rayplanes

Photo #4

Take the phil apart into three smaller hyperbolic parabolas which are given the name 'RAYPLANES'. The rayplane is a two dimensional surface element twelve of which can be made from one tetralith. When the rayplane element is made from a tetralith which has vertices located equal distances apart then the resulting rayplanes are all the same shape and are modular.

Photo #4 shows a phil before and after being taken apart into three rayplanes.

While we are inventing and labeling, let us invent one more thing. Let us weave six HPs together where they all have a common mid-point. Now we have invented an object which we will call an OCTALITH. The OCTALITH is made up of eight PHILS or twenty-four RAYPLANES. Actually, we are right back to where we started, because the OCTALITH which we have invented has eight vertices just like the six-sided brick. Or if we take a 'Different View', it may be possible to describe reality, not only Newtonianly and with Einstein's E=MC² but also with a system of reasoning based around synergetic force-fields. It could be that, instead of thinking atoms, bricks and entropy, we can intellectually weave a tensile reality which will help us become more oriented as we step out of Mother Earth's mud and into the realm of space.

Octalith

Photo #5

Merge two tetraliths in a manner where they have a common midpoint. Together they make up a three dimensional element which is given the name octalith.

Photo #5 shows two tetraliths before they are merged and an octalith which has been merged from two tetraliths. Count the vertices and you can see that the octalith has eight vertices and twelve edges like a cube but unlike a cube the octalith has six intersecting pairs of edges.

Modular Configurations

Photo #6

Configurations made up of rayplanes are unlimited and as you can see many of the objects reflect combinations of shapes recognizable in nature. In the microscopic realm organic configurations can resemble the helix coil which make up the DNA molecule. The tetralith and octalith can be structured into arrays which can give insight into quantum science.

Synergetic Realm

Photo #7

Modern science has produced a cornucopia of materials which possess outstanding tensile and structural properties. The invention of the tetralith, phil and the rayplane makes prestressing feasible and desirable in order to optimize the utilization of these materials. Module configurations of these elements can be designed into structures of great strength and lightness, large size and of synergetic magnitude. Using common inexpensive materials such as concrete and pre-stressed high carbon steel wire re-enforcing the rayplane can be constructed into geodesic domes and shell construction of gigantic size dwarfing conventional structures here on earth. In space where compression forces due to gravity are eliminated the rayplane becomes an outstanding tensile element, Its module design along with its ability to nest makes its use unlimited.

United States Patent Information

download patent 5,020,287

view patent 5,020,287 on www.uspto.gov

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The OCTALITHTM is the invention of Ray A. Woods. The RAYPLANETM, PHILTM, and TETRALITHTM are derivatives of the OCTALITHTM. © Copyright 1989