Next: Why Formalize Jayne? Up: Introduction Previous: Introduction
String figures are a rare hobby. In my experience, very few people are interested in learning string figures from books. Even fewer yet are interested in notating string figures. The amount of time needed to learn a string figure notation system such as Storer's string figure calculus (or Arrow Code [1], or Mizz Code [5] ) is so high, and the rewards are so slight, that very few string figure enthusiasts invest the time to learn a system. To see the sort of analysis that the calculus enables, see the closing section on Caroline Island Diamonds (ยง3.15).
Who, then, is this paper for? It is for the string figure community as a proof of concept and a sign. This paper shows that the string figure calculus is a rich and expressive system capable of being used by people other than its author for a variety of purposes. It shows that LATEX can handle typesetting the string figure calculus.
The ideal reader is someone whose repertoire includes a handful of figures from Jayne but who does not yet know Storer's calculus. One possible way to use this paper would be to play through some figures that you know and follow along with the notation. This is essentially Pete Seeger's advice for learning how to read sheet music: sing through a printed collection of songs that you already know and follow the notation [7].
A word of warning is necessary here. The string figure calculus is not well suited to learning figures. It is much better suited for remembering the steps of a figure that you've learned from some other source. The written calculus can help jog the memory and help the fingers remember. However, one can use figures to learn the calculus.
And so, this paper is for someone who wants to learn Storer's string figure calculus. The figures in Jayne are generally well known in the string figure community. If you're curious about the string figure calculus, then you can “read” along with the figures that you already know. When I first started learning Storer's calculus, it would have been immensely encouraging to have such a source. I would have appreciated seeing more calculus and various ways of employing the calculus. And so, this article is written for someone who was like me about five or ten years ago. That is to say, it is for a person with mathematical or computational inclinations, who is curious about string figures and finds Storer's calculus exciting.