Penrose Stairs

Date:
c.1958-1962
Reference:
PENROSE/1/7/1
Part of:
L. S. Penrose Papers
  • Archives and manuscripts
  • Online

Collection contents

Available online

Contains: 38 images

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Access conditions

Works in this archive created by Lionel S. Penrose are available under a CC-BY-NC license. Please be aware that works in this archive created by other organisations and individuals are not covered under this license, and you should obtain any necessary permissions before copyright or adapting any such works.

In copyright

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Credit

Penrose Stairs. In copyright. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider

The original material is held at UCL Special Collections. This catalogue is held by the Wellcome Library as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.

About this work

Description

Material relating to the "Penrose stairs", also called the "continuous steps" or the "impossible staircase"; a staircase in which there are four 90-degree turns that form a continuous loop with no discernible start or end points. L S Penrose and his son, Roger, first published the idea of the continuous steps in the British Journal of Psychology in 1958. They were inspired by, and in turn inspired, the work of Dutch artist M C Escher.



Includes rough drawings and sketches, a notebook dated 1962 with further drawings and mathematical calculations, and photographs of a model of the staircase taken in the Galton Laboratory.

Publication/Creation

c.1958-1962

Physical description

36 folios including 3 photos and 1 notebook

Related material

See also a drawing of a "Penrose triangle" in PENROSE/1/7/3

Location of duplicates

A digitised copy is held by the Wellcome Library as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.

Terms of use

The papers are available at UCL Special Collections and Archives subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking.

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Where to find it

Location of original

The original material is held at UCL Special Collections. This catalogue is held by the Wellcome Library as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.

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