The octahedron has eight faces, six vertices, and 12 edges. The dual of the octahedron is the cube (interchanging the number of faces and vertices), with six faces, eight vertices, and 12 edges. There are two sets of images on this page, first are selections from photos taken this summer 2003 at the ocean in Boca Raton, Florida. Second are images from summer 2002, also taken in Boca Raton, at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, with my collapsibles floating in their marine tanks. There are lots and lots of pages and references, in books and on many internet sites, to learn about the platonic solids. My pages are here for enjoying math aesthetically, to experience it in a different way, set in natural and dynamic backgrounds, in this case being acted upon by dynamic forces. Sometimes the structures are small in the image. The reason for this is to see them in a bigger picture. Often, only a part of the structure is showing. In these cases, try to mentally visualize the entire structure. Keep in mind while looking at the images that not only can the octahedron be described using math, much of the nature it is set in can be described using math as well. Hopefully, after looking at these images, visitors to my site will enjoy finding out more about the octahedron, as well as the other platonic solids, and will make a good hunt of it!

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