Mathematics on Stamps

Pythagoras (569 - 475 BC)

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), Polish Mathematician

The first two stamps were issued by Poland in 1973, and the third one was issued by Hungary in 1973.



This stamp was issued by Germany in 1973 for the 500 years Anniversary.



This last stamp was issued by the USA in 1973 to honor Copernicus.

Mathematicians on Posters

Archimedes of Syracuse (c.287 BC - c. 212 BC)

Archimedes was a Greek mathematician and regarded as the greatest mathematician of his age. He was also an astronomer, a physicist, an engineer and an inventor. Archimedes invented a wide variety of machines including pulleys and the well known Archimedes Screw pumping device. The first stamp depicting Archimedes and the Archimidean Screw was issued by Italy in 1983, and the middle stamp issued by Nicaragua in 1971 depicts a special case of Archimedes' 'Law of the Lever'.



The first stamp is one of a series of six stamps, "Old Masters Paintings." The painting entitled "Portrait of a Scholar" is by the Italian painter Domenico Fetti. The painting is located in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Dresden, Germany). It was issued by the German Democratic Republic (the former East Germany), on November 13, 1973. The second stamp was issued by Greece in1983 and the third stamp was issued by San Marino in 1982.

The Introduction of the Metric System

The metric system was devised during the French Revolution (1789-1799) in order to standardise the different systems of measurement which were then being used. The metric system has standard units of measurement for problems involving length, area, volume, mass, temperature, electricity and time. Other units of measurement in the metric system are obtained by multiplying and dividing by powers of 10. Gradually the metric system has spread as a measure of length over the world with only the US remaining officially non-metric.

A very interesting article, Article Number 7: 'From Non-Metric to Metric: The Metrication on Stamps' by Volker F. Woesner can be found at Marginalia: Notes About Map Stamps.

Australia converted to the metric system starting from 1965 when the Australian pharmaceuticals industry converted to the metric system. Until then Australia mostly used the imperial system inherited from the United Kingdom. In 1973, Australia issued the following set of 4 postage stamps to help publicise the metric conversion process. The SI units are now the sole legal units of measurement in Australia.

Stamps issued by Bangladesh in 1983.



The stamp on the left was issued by Romania in 1966 for the 100th Anniversary of the introduction of the metric system, and represents the seven base units of measurement surrounding the letters SI (from the French Système International D'unités).The stamp on the right was issued by New Zealand in 1976 to announce the conversion to the Metric System.



The stamp on the left was issued by the Netherlands in 1975 to commemorate the centennial of the Meter Convention. The stamp on the right was issued by Surinam in the same year, 1975 also to commemorate the centennial of the Meter Convention. These stamps and more of the same come from the A Philatelic Tribute to the SI by Daniel Rabinovich featured in The Chemistry International, Vol. 32 No. 6, November-December 2010.



This stamp is my favourite, it is so simple yet so descriptive. It was issued by Denmark in 2007 for the 100th Anniversary of the metric system in Denmark. This stamp is shared on MyPhilately.



For more of these great stamps on the metric system you can click on any of the images and it will take you to two different sites that have a great collection of stamps.

More Mathematics on Stamps

you can see more of these beautiful Mathematics stamps at scientific-web.com.