Jacques Ferroul was a prolific inventor of mathematical puzzles. Poly-Spidrons are one of his most complex designs. These puzzles are made by special order. They are laser-cut from transparent tinted acrylic in jewel colors of aqua, amber, blue, amethyst, topaz and sapphire. The Lucite cut edges glow and make it easy to see the divisions between the individual pieces.

Each defined group of pieces has its own color. Color mix may vary. If you prefer all pieces to be just one color, we can supply that, too; just specify it on your order form.

The pieces themselves are fractal-like shapes of triangles joined in descending proportions. The graceful mathematics of the complete set you can find fully explained on Jacques' website, together with an astonishing collection of shapes and patterns to solve. You're welcome to download them to go with your Poly-Spidrons set.

Jacques based his polyform design on the invention of the Spidron^TM system by Daniel Erdely, a Hungarian mathematician. Daniel has graciously given permission for us to make these sets that incorporate his Spidron spirals into permutations with triangles and partial triangles.

See Daniel's magnificent display for other applications of the Spidron concept. The name "Spidron" is a trademark of Daniel Erdely, used by Kadon under license for the Poly-Spidrons puzzle.

Science News, the weekly newsmagazine of science, had a cover feature story in the Oct. 21, 2006 (Vol. 170, No. 17, p. 266), issue about the intricate structures and three-dimensional crystalline forms that Daniel's crinkly spiraling triangles (the spidrons) can form.

We present Poly-Spidrons as shown above. All but one of the tiles form a perfect triangle with a central triangular space. The remaining piece has a parking space in the 12" kite-shaped tray. It does appear in the many other challenges the set can solve. This is a complex ensemble, very satisfying to work with once you get over the first hurdle of its strangely spiraling pieces. Recommended for ages 12 to adult.     $85

Now see the wonders of Grand Poly-Spidrons^TM

See also Jacques Ferroul's Tetrapentos^TM, Stelo^TM, La Ora Stelo^TM, The Crab^TM

Visit Jacques' page (in French with English translation)
for many other great polyform explorations.