Edinburgh 300: Cradle of Chemistry

This exhibition at the University Library in George Square finishes on Saturday, and so here's a blip of one of the more unusual items in this fascinating display. .

Three-dimensional knitting by Alexander Crum Brown

Crum Brown used knitting as a medium for exploring the mathematics of multi-dimensional surfaces, and published a paper "On a Case of Interlacing Surfaces" in 1885. During the First World War, having retired from the Chair of Chemistry [at the University of Edinburgh] in 1908, he was often to be seen on the tram knitting socks for soldiers. The interleaved knits here were entirely novel for the late nineteenth century.