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Abstract.
The following thesis examines the origin of the Möbius strip, by
testing the hypothesis that this (Möbius strip) and related single-
surfaced topologies were originally discovered by A. F Möbius and
J. B Listing. This is achieved by conducting a study of verifiable
historical documents.
1
Table of Contents
Abstract
1
Table of Figures
3
Introduction
5
The Lemniscus
9
The Pelican 11
The Ouroboros 13
The Ankh 20
The Cycle 27
Conclusion 30
References 36
2
Sometime, we see a cloud that’s dragonish.
3
Introduction.
Humankind is learning, of this we can have no doubt. Many
simple truths have been discovered only recently, many we can
remember from millennia ago. The world of conceptual
knowledge is a colorful realm, of opinion and imagination, art,
emotion, and shifting logical truths, a fractured, brilliant and
growing landscape. This essay stands as an enquiry into the
knowledge of the Möbius strip.
The first aim of this essay is to test the hypothesis that single-
surface topologies were first discovered by August Möbius and
Johann Listing around the time of the mid 19th century. This can
be achieved through the discovery of evidence of the
appearance of single-surface in historical record prior to this date.
4
mankind has somehow erased all previous records, has not
discovered past record of it, or has never produced any record of
it. Thus it can never be scientifically proven that our ancestors
did not at one time know of the Möbius strip. This essay cannot
be said to offer conclusive scientific knowledge on all points, but
it is worthwhile simply if it articulates the fine balance of truth,
fallacy and possibility.
5
strip today remains unchanged by all time, a potential link to
times past. Assuming that the laws of mathematics and geometry
are unchanging, as it is today, it is as it would have been
centuries ago. With this knowledge, we can limit our search of
history, and begin our enquiry seeking only information which
contains a resemblance to the geometrical forms which bear one
of the potential forms of the single-surface topology.
Records state that the first known discovery of the Möbius strip
was made in the year 1858, independently and almost
simultaneously by Johann Benedict Listing (1808-1882), and
August Ferdinand Möbius (1790- 1868), both men established
academics in what is now Germany1. The official discovery is
credited to be Möbius’ 1965 paper, ‘On the Determination of the
Volume of a Polyhedron’2.
1
Pickover, Cliff A, The Möbius Strip, Thunder’s Mouth Press, New York, 2006, p.28
2
ibid
6
already recognize the Möbius topology, perhaps even unaware of
it. As a symbol it bears the atlas task of persuading humans to
remember the fact what we dispose of does not go away. As to
the ultimate state of humanity, this symbol may prove to be of a
far greater good than the symbols of the human brands, which,
like factories of waste, only consume and digest the ancient form
of the natural world, to feed our craving for intangible self-
gratification.
By Plato’s standard, the ideal form of the Möbius strip has existed
for at least as long as time itself3. Yet one of the most curious of
the Möbius strip parlor tricks is the enigma of its novelty. For,
while humankind has been measuring and imitating nature
geometrically for ages in areas of science, philosophy and artistic
expression, from these millennial foundations, we are told that we
humans have been aware of the simple shape of the Möbius strip
for the piddling span of 150 years. This is fair, there is little or no
historical evidence that any humans were aware of the existence
of the Möbius topology prior to this era of modern western
science4.
Like the point, or the line, only imperfect reflections of the ideal
Möbius strip form exist in nature. In fact, perfect or imperfect, it
never seems to occur naturally in the human sized world of
existence. As by this earlier stated argument, this non-being
cannot be proven to be true. Assuming that the Möbius topology
is partly artificial, it would seem to be a factual fiction come to
being though human creation, an imagining brought into the
stage of physical being through artificial technology, much like a
3
Plato, ‘Allegory of the Cave’, The Republic,
4
Pickover, The Möbius Strip, 2006, p.29
7
can of soup. Like many forms, it is intelligible to the language of
mathematics5.
5
Möbius, August Ferdinand, Gessammelte Werke. Herausgegeben auf Veranlassung der Königlich
sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Edited by Richard Baltzer, Felix Klein, and Wilhelm
Scheibner, 4 vols, Leipzig
8
has nevertheless become an inspirational curiosity for artists,
scientists, philosophers, and dreamers alike.
The Lemniscus.
It is a common speculation that the Möbius strip was the original
idea behind the adoption of the lemniscates symbol, i.e. ∞, as the
standard mathematical notation for the figure of infinity6. There
are a few good reasons for this. First, the surface of the Möbius
strip can be philosophically associated with idea of the unending
procession of the infinite. Secondly, the creator of the symbol, the
mathematician John Wallis, referred to this shape the specific
property of boundlessness. Thirdly, the title of the symbol,
lemniscates, means in Latin ‘ribbon’. Ribbon is a material is unlike
string or rope in that it has a flat surface with definite width but
little depth, which is the necessary structure of the Möbius strip.
Finally, due to the curvature made by tension held by the form in
paper, a side on perspective of the Möbius strip of moderate
width, resting on a flat surface, will form precisely this figure-
eight shape, unless forced otherwise. A regular loop will not
behave like this.
6
Clegg, Brian, A Brief History of Infinity: The Quest to Think the Unthinkable, Constable and Robinson,
London, 2003, P.75
7
Clegg, A Brief History of Infinity, 2003, pp70-71
9
It is important to note that Wallis did not give any particular title
to the figure; in fact the title ‘lemniscates’ is attributed to Jakob
Bernoulli, from his later description of the lemniscus curve.
Lemniscus sometimes translates as ‘pendant ribbon’, which is
possibly a reference to a strip of fabric tied to a pole, as would be
found on the pennant flag of a medieval European House.
We can easily speculate that John Wallis spent a good piece of his
life, however obliquely, in the manufacture of long rectangular
strips of paper. It is not hard to suggest that John Wallis, scientist,
mathematician, cryptographer, an unsung polymath genius of the
enlightenment, knew the simple fact that a strip of paper joined
at the ends with a half twist makes single continuous, infinite
seeming, surface. If we suggest this hypothesis, the fact that
Wallis used a symbol with an identical form as the reference to
8
Clegg, A Brief History of Infinity, 2003, p.74
9
Clegg, A Brief History of Infinity, 2003, p. 74
10
Clegg, A Brief History of Infinity, 2003, p.73
10
the quality of boundlessness would support it. As it is this
reference which prompted us to suppose that he had knowledge
of it, this is makes for a circular argument.
The Pelican.
In 1882, advancing on the work of Möbius, Felix Klein was
accredited with the invention of the surface form known as the
Klein bottle11. Unlike the Möbius strip, the Klein bottle is an
enclosed surface, and can bear binary symmetry. An open
composite of the both the Klein bottle and the Möbius strip results
in a semi-enclosed surface, which can bear binary symmetry.
11
Pickover, The Möbius Strip, 2006, pp.81-82
12
Borges, Jorge Louis, ‘The Pelican’, in The Book of Imaginary Beings, trans. A Hurley,
Penguin Books, 2005, pp 151-152
11
The philosopher Melanie Purcell, a colleague of the noted artist
Sheila Morgan, has made light of this similarity of this figure to an
alembic flask, the basic equipment of an experimental
alchemist13. An alembic flask is made from blown glass, and thus
is very similar to the manufacture of the Klein bottle.
The Ouroboros.
13
Purcell M, Towards A New E.R.A.: Epistemological Resolution Analysis By Through and From Klein-
Bottle Wholeness and Transdisciplinary Education, 2006
12
The Ouroboros is a myth of giant primal serpentine dragon which
consumes its own tail for food. It was a familiar symbol in Ancient
Egypt; there are examples of it inscribed on Tutankhamen’s tomb,
designated as the figure Mehen14. The symbol has survived over
the centuries by remaining in use, and is an important symbolic
metaphor within the alchemical tradition, known to refer to many
principles, processes, and ideas. It is without doubt one of the
most significant themes of alchemical work. While it has adopted
many different symbolic lights and shades, it is primarily used as
a symbol of Time, or of an eternal self-sustainable whole. This
sense of an eternal cyclical progression is very similar to that of
the Möbius strip. Despite the connection can safely assume that
the origin of this symbol was the imaginary implications of a
creature flexible enough to eat its tail, so as to thus exist in
perfect self-sufficiency.
If you did not see it before, hidden in the pattern of spots, there is
a diagonal line from the inner edge of the ring to the outer. There
is also a slightly curved line shorter line. The points of these
internal lines meeting, with the inner edge, form a curving right-
angled triangle. The right angled triangle was a sacred symbol of
the Pythagorean movement. However it is doubtful that this is a
14
Ellison, Taylor R, An Enigmatic Book of the Netherworld From a Shrine of Tutankhamen,
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/enigmatic.htm
15
Taylor, Frank Sherwood, The Alchemists: Founders of Modern Chemistry, Kessinger, 1992, p.51
16
ibid
17
Taylor, 58
18
Marshall, Peter, The Philosopher’s Stone: A Quest for the Secrets of Alchemy, Pan Books, 2002, p.199
13
mathematical geometric figure judging by the organic curvature
of the lines. Given intricacy of the diagrams, it appears a
deliberate inclusion. The simplest explanation is that this detail in
the illustration was devised in order demonstrate that the image
shown had the physical form of the Möbius strip.
A. B.
14
Pan Dragon19
The curious copper ring above has a similar shape to the picture
in the Alexandrian document, were the picture of a Möbius strip.
In contemplation this sculpture appears humble, as if it might
have started out as a clothes pin. The design operates with a
simple elegance in this respect.
19
Pan Dragon, Author
15
‘The Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra’20
These drawings represent Alchemical information, a blend of
ancient chemistry, metaphysics and mysticism. Luckily, enough
practitioners of Alchemy survived to help it develop into the first
sciences. The title of the page describes the figures as
‘Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra’. Chrysopoeia is a Greek word. The
prefix chryso refers gold or golden, the word in full translates to
something like ‘gold maker’
16
circles reads as follows: One is the serpent which has its poison
according to two compositions. One is All and through it is All and
by it is All and if you have not All, All is Nothing.21 This does
appear to be a statement in a chemical sense, but rather a
metaphysical, or perhaps even physical description. This
paragraph of text would appear to refer to the Ouroboros symbol
below it, the round dragon marked Hen To Pan, ‘One is All’, or ‘All
is One’.
This figure is shaded half in black, and half in white with specks.
There is an equal balance of light and dark. Some can interpret it
to mean the concept of good and evil, or health and sickness.
Some clearly have interpreted it to mean the transition of leaden
metal to golden metal. It is likely a reference to the composition
of the ‘poison’ of the serpent. It seems to function well as
philosophical statement, provoking thought on a range of ideas
which are relevant to the nature of binary opposition within a
whole.
21
Taylor, 58
22
Marshall, Peter, The Philosopher’s Stone: A Quest for the Secrets of Alchemy, 2002, p.200
23
Linden, p.44
24
Taylor, p.51
17
The Möbius strip form is not the only explanation for the extra
lines in the Chrysopoeia diagram. Purcell has already noted the
anomaly. She writes: “When scrutinised closely, the Ouroboros
becomes far more than a serpent biting its tail. As with the Codex
Marcianus, and other’s that depict the dual black and white
aspects, the Ouroboros clearly is devouring itself but it is
devouring what has been turned inside out… These
correspondences are often related to the fact that snakes shed
their skin.25” This is a valid interpretation of what the illustrator
could have intended the lines to portray, the shedding of the
snake’s skin.
18
every Möbius surface must have one of two possible
compositions. This is to say that it must have either a clockwise
or anti-clockwise half-twist, not both. This fact causes most
Möbius surfaces to be asymmetrical along any straight line,
although there are exceptions to this rule. It is difficult be certain
of any interpretation made with design, especially of isolated
passages of ancient text. In this case the interpretation is made
of a very general statement.
28
Taylor, 57
29
ibid
30
Linden, Stanton J, The Alchemy Reader: From Hermes Trimegistus to Isaac Newton, Cambridge
University Press, 2003, p.44
31
Linden, p.45
32
Linden, p.50
19
“And that I may not write many things to you, my friend, build a
temple of one stone, like ceruse in appearance, like alabaster,
like marble of Prosonnesus, having neither beginning nor end in
its construction. Let it have within it a spring of pure water
glittering like the sun. Notice on which side is the entry of the
temple and, taking your sword in hand, so seek for the entry. For
narrow is the place at which the temple opens. A serpent lies
before the entry guarding the temple; seize him and sacrifice
him. Skin him and, taking his flesh and bones, separate his parts;
then reuniting the members with the bones at the entry of the
temple, make of them a stepping stone, mount thereon, and
enter. You will find there what you seek.”33
20
evidence of the diagram in the Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra clearly
opens the possibility that the mythical Philosopher’s Stone may
have had a real historical basis in the form of the Möbius strip.
This theory is supported by the description of Zosimos.
The idea that a sculpture in the shape of the Möbius strip can
bestow restorative properties is probably sufficient to account for
the non-existence of any sculptures dating prior to the 1800s.
But the fact that almost all Alchemical ‘recipes’ which call for a
philosopher’s stone state that it must be completely incinerated
to be effective would make the extinction of the form seem
absolutely inevitable.
21
Ankh, 1200BC34
(centre figure)
The Ankh.
Egypt contains some of the best preserved examples of
sophisticated ancient art forms. In wall carvings, sculpture,
painting and script, the ankh pictograph is shown to be a
common and revered symbol in Ancient Egyptian religious
cultural practice. This meaning of this symbol is ‘Life’35. It is
surprisingly often under-referenced in academic and historical
works.
34
The Book of the Dead: The Papyrus of Ani, trans E. A Wallis Budge, Dover Publications, NY, 1967
35
Cox, Simon and Davies, Susan, ‘Ankh’, in An A to Z of Ancient Egypt, Mainstream Publishing, 2007,
pp.29-31
22
During its adoption into the Latin speaking world, an interesting
and eventful journey, it was described as Crux Ansata, ‘cross with
handle’36. The Ankh is depicted in ancient art as a droplet loop
upon a angular shaft extending from its lower terminus, with a
horizontal bar in at the intersection of the loop point and the
shaft. It was used freely as a hieroglyph- a pictographic word
symbol; and also as an abstract symbolic figure. Paintings, stone
carved statuettes and bas reliefs, papyrus, and evidence of this
kind often show the Ankh as being carried, loop in hand, by
Royalty and Gods. It was a common design motif for jewelry,
amulets, and other worked crafts. We do not know with any real
certainty when the invention and assignment of this symbol took
place, or where, by whom, or from what source.
36
ibid
23
How to make a Möbius strip: Method 2
Unlike the Möbius strip method, the key construction spreads the
‘twist’ over the simple bend of the loop, and so unlike the Möbius
strip, it does not place a twisting force on the material of the
construct. What this means is that the key topology is simpler to
produce from semi flexible materials than the Möbius strip, which
can break from the sheer force in the torsion. What we must put
37
http://www.lspace.org/fandom/afp/timelines/holy-anorankh.html Accessed July 09.
24
to question here is the possibility that the key topology was the
origin of the Ankh symbol. But four thousand years down the line,
the question is not whether it was possible to suppose, but
whether it is at all plausible.
The fact that the key topology differs significantly from the Ankh
in another way does not discredit the theory so much as it might
credit it. The most obvious variation between the two is the
absence of the horizontal cross line, which appears in the Ankh
structure but is not an immediate part of the key topology.
25
It follows that if the hypothetical pioneer of the key topology
wanted to draw or write the shape, but was unable to portray
depth, it would have seemed to be impossible to display the
specific qualities of a single recurrent surface. The next best
means to indicate the significant topological features of the loop
would have been by the suggestion of a straight bar passing
through it. By the natural design of the topology, any such bar
would easily come to rest in the cradle formation of the middle
split in the form. If this was the case, it would be confirmed by the
position of the crossbar on the Ankh symbol.
26
Late period Sistrum Nefertari with Sistrum
27
fact that most religious institutions can be often secretive and
esoteric, withholding special knowledge from the public and lower
hierarchies.
28
If we still persist under the hypothesis that the key topology was
the source of the Ankh symbol, perhaps the only explanation left
is the Ancient Egyptians portrayed it without single sided
characteristics because they themselves did copy the topology,
without knowing of it.
29
garment of an ordained priestess. This is a popular belief of those
who regard Isis.
38
Schwabe, C. W, Adams, J, and Hodge, C T, Egyptian Beliefs about the Bull's Spine: An Anatomical
Origin for Ankh, Anthropological Linguistics, Vol. 24, No. 4, 1982, pp. 445-479.
30
underworld, the unseen world of where it all goes, only to then
return above again in still another cycle.
To fit with the evidence, if the key topology was related to the
origin, then the only remaining possibility is that the figure was
discovered and partially forgotten in the period between its
original introduction as a written symbol, and the later period
responsible for development of significant technology of art. A
key topology drawn in the mud will look like an Ankh, without
perspective. It is certainly possible, but not easily plausable, as it
requires huge assumptions in place of evidence.
31
Enso, ‘’39
Life in essence extends beyond the contingencies of thought,
because it is an embodiment, a physical thing. If it was not a real
thing, it would not exist: meaning in turn that thought could not
exist. For us to seek the meaning of life, however, is a sure
assurance of Life’s existence. Our purpose here is to understand
the nature of Life in relation to the idea of a cycle, which the
Möbius strip can appear to represent.
32
loop. This Universe, ours, us, it is four dimensional; which is to
say that it is a composite of the three dimensions of Space in
Time. The cycle, wheel, is one of the most predominant images of
time. This may be because fluid composite bodies, such as our
own, to retain our form, our self, during constant change, must in
some way exchange the composition of it’s substance, with
minimal loss in form. We can imagine, provided we don’t look,
that this goes very much like a cycle.
Conclusion.
Artistically, the form of a simple loop of any dimensions can be
made in many different ways, to suit many different forms of the
mind, designed, even subliminally, to forms chosen of the semi-
infinite possibilities of imagination and free will. It could be that
this is true, and when combined that the physical structure the
loop may always generally resemble the ideas of Life, the Infinite
and Eternal, the correspondence in forms can be explained with a
real causal link which does no relate to historical circumstance.
Therefore, the validity of the historical link is balanced against
the possibility that evidence of the theories are made, ad hoc
33
fiction, and the evidence is intentionally designed to fit the facts.
If this is the case, much of this essay is simply pseudoscientific
fallacy. But if it is a fiction, it may be even more profound, made
so by the fact that it was written by both humanity and the
universe.
The final accounting recalls the trilemma that some, all, or none
of the aforementioned topological sculptures could have provided
creative inspiration for the historical origin of the ancient
artworks. What makes the first two possibilities (that some or all
of the forms helped cause the symbolic trends) so incredible is
that there are no historical records. It may be less incredible that
forms of single surface forms echo in synchronously, causa sui,
with symbols of Life, the Infinite, and the Eternal.
34
creation, is amazing enough to want to indicate something in its
absence, some unknown truth, either about history, or about
humanity, if even we know not what. However absence is more
unfathomable than the pure unknown. The unknown at least
meets knowledge in the source of both, the natural material
world.
35
We know the idea of a four dimensional loop, a cycle, applies to
the nature of Life. The preceding metaphysical discourse may not
demonstrate that this example of life as a loop was believed or
known of by the Ancient Egyptians. However in this regard we do
have some knowledge of their religious worship of the sun, moon,
and seasons. If you follow it with your eye, the key topology, like
the Möbius strip, suggests the conceptual picture of a perpetual
flowing of a cycle, running over and under the loop, and up and
down the stem. This imagined pattern of flow suggestively
resembles the annual flood of the Nile, from a primitive
perspective, among other images of Life. Only, for the long
history of archeological interest in the remains of the great
ancient civilization of the Nile, it must be said that not a single
artifact, of stone, metal, wood, paint or ink, specifically
resembling a Möbius topology has been discovered, even in
tombs which are opened only recently. This suggests that the
peculiar shape of the key topology could represent an a priori
figure which sits with these symbols of Life only by the hand of
fate.
We can no longer say for sure that the Möbius strip was invented
in 1858. If the Möbius strip did exist as an artifact in ancient
times, we must still provide an explanation as to why little or no
evidence of it remains. So far, we are not entirely without
possible explanation for this non-occurrence.
36
With biblical regard for the Ouroboros, the dragon, the serpent, as
it is, it is possible that a Christian would regard the Möbius strip
to be possibly tainted by evil spirits. This would be due to the
stigma of being associated with the Devil Dragon, Satan. This
spirit figure of ill repute was regarded as the source of evil or the
ordained opponent of God in Christian mythology. This figure is
associated with the icon of the serpent. There are many points of
reference to connect this superstition, and the effect of
superstition and suspicion in a harsh time can be dangerous. For
a period, the standard consequence of the even the suggestion of
association with the Devil was cremation of the living body. This
makes it very unlikely that a person of this time and region would
publicize or tolerate the publication of the idol-like serpentine
figure, especially not by any practitioner of a secret and mystical
occult philosophical metallurgic chemistry.
Our last possible reason as to why the Möbius strip could have
fallen from existence is that images of it could have been
regarded as lapis philosophorum: a legendary magical substance
prized by the scientists and philosophers of the long and ancient
school of Alchemy. The idea of the Chrysopoeia is said to have
been the central, defining concept of Alchemy, and the Ouroboros
in the Leyden papyrus is the earliest known illustration of the
Chrysopoeia. The evidence from the Cleopatra illustrations and
from the writing of Zosimos strongly suggests that the
Chrysopoeia of early Egyptian alchemy took the form we know as
the Möbius strip.
37
unthinkable that they could have destroyed them all in fire, which
actually is the clear instruction of many surviving Alchemical
documents. Successive generations of the experimental
application of heat, force, and corrosive substances will have a
detrimental effect on anything as fragile as stone, and the
number of forms on our planet is finite.
The life of earth has evolved for millennia without the existence
of our artificial creations. We alter the fabric of the universe to
make new forms out of our environment in a massive, massive
way. We beings cannot know what will become of creations as
they fallow their own paths through the time ahead of us. We
learn so slowly, while incredible change rushes from us at an
increasing pace. But we must somehow remember unimaginable
time span of the survival of life on earth it required for us reach to
this point now.
38
I hope that we, with compassion extend our power of creation
and destruction to heal our greater self, Life, Earth. By breaking
our addiction with death, and allowing our ingenuity, and true
self-harmony, not just with our own minds but all with all things,
we may yet return our potential for creation and destruction to
move with the harmony it once had with Life. The death of our
amazing species is both a tiny sadness and the foregone
conclusion, against the irrevocable loss of this beauty of the free
existence of Life. Always our own death is given to us by the
universe. If we cannot cease to harm the cycles of Life which we
have broken, then our species, for all its sapiens brilliance, our
self expression, our morality, our love, we should pray that we as
we are forever cease to be, a limb torn from the tree of evolution,
bound into the eternal extinction which we ourselves may have
already condemned to so many ancient noble beings.
39
Bibliography.
Thoth, The Book of the Dead: The Papyrus of Ani in the British
Museum, trans E. A Wallis Budge Dover Publications, NY, 1967
40
Plato, Timaeus and Critias, trans D Lee, Penguin Books, 1965
41