For Sir Francis Galton's machine for demonstrating the normal distribution named "quincunx", see bean machine. Sir Francis Galton FRS ( 16 February 1822 &ndash 17 January 1911) half-cousin of Charles Darwin, was an The normal distribution, also called the Gaussian distribution, is an important family of Continuous probability distributions applicable in many fields The bean machine, also known as the Quincunx or Galton box, is a device invented by Sir Francis Galton to demonstrate the Law of error

Five dots forming a quincunx

This aes grave coin is a Roman quincunx but the five pellets do not appear in the quincunx arrangement. Aes grave (heavy bronze is a numismatical term indicating bronze cast coins used in central Italy during the 4th and 5th centuries BC

A quincunx (IPA ['kwɪnkʌŋks]) is the arrangement of five units in the pattern corresponding to the five-spot on dice, playing cards, or dominoes. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA is a system of phonetic notation based on the Latin alphabet, devised by the International Phonetic For other uses see either Die or Dice (disambiguation. Dice (the Plural of Die, from Old French A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper thin card or thin plastic figured with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing Card games Dominoes (or "dominos" generally refers to the individual or collective gaming pieces making up a domino set (sometimes called a deck or pack The quincunx was originally a coin issued by the Roman Republic c. 211-200 BC, whose value was five twelfths (quinque + uncia) of an as, the Roman standard bronze coin. On the Roman quincunx coins, the value was sometimes indicated by a pattern of five dots. Typically, a modern quincunx consists of five objects arranged in a square, with one object at each of the square's four corners and the fifth in the square's center. If the four corner objects form a rectangle, the pattern is still considered a quincunx.

The significance of the quincunx pattern originates in Pythagorean mathematical mysticism. "Pythagoras of Samos" redirects here For the Samian statuary of the same name see Pythagoras (sculptor. Mysticism (from the Greek grc μυστικός mystikos, an initiate of a Mystery religion) is the pursuit of communion with identity This pattern lies at the heart of the Pythagorean tetraktys, a pyramid of ten dots. The Tetractys is a triangular figure consisting of ten points arranged in four rows one two three and four points in each row To the Pythagoreans the number five held particular significance and the quincunx pattern represented this significance.

Examples

Quincunx patterns occur in many contexts:

• A quincunx is a standard pattern for planting an orchard, especially in France. An orchard is an intentional planting of Trees or Shrubs maintained for Food production. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.
• Quincunxes are used in modern computer graphics as a supersampling pattern for anti-aliasing. Computer graphics are Graphics created by Computers and more generally the Representation and Manipulation of Pictorial Data Supersampling is an Antialiasing technique the process of eliminating jagged and pixelated edges ( Aliasing) In Digital signal processing, anti-aliasing is the technique of minimizing the distortion artifacts known as Aliasing when representing a high-resolution signal Quincunx antialiasing samples scenes at the corners and centers of each pixel. These five sample points, in the shape of a quincunx, are combined to produce each displayed pixel. However, samples at the corner points are shared with adjacent pixels, so the number of samples needed is only twice the number of displayed pixels. [1]
• In astrology (and less commonly in astronomy), a quincunx (also known as an inconjunct) is an astrological aspect of five-twelfths of a circle, or 150°, between two objects (the Sun, Moon, planets or signs). Astrology (from Greek grc ἄστρον astron, "constellation star" and grc -λογία -logia) is a group of Systems Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study In Astrology, an aspect is an Angle the planets make to each other in the horoscope and also to the ascendant midheaven descendant and nadir The Sun (Sol is the Star at the center of the Solar System. A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU is a celestial body Orbiting a Star or stellar remnant that is
• In architecture, a quincuncial plan, also defined as a "cross inscribed in a square", is the plan of an edifice composed of nine bays. The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation The central and the four angular ones are covered with domes or groin vaults; the other four are surmounted by barrel vaults. A dome is a common structural element of Architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a Sphere. A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves in the case

The spots on the 5th side of a (playing) die form a quincunx. For other uses see either Die or Dice (disambiguation. Dice (the Plural of Die, from Old French	The points on each face of a unit cell of a face-centred cubic lattice form a quincunx. In Mineralogy and Crystallography, a crystal structure is a unique arrangement of Atoms in a Crystal. The cubic crystal system (or isometric) is a Crystal system where the Unit cell is in the shape of a Cube.	A quincuncial map is a conformal map projection that maps the poles of the sphere to the centre and four corners of a square, thus forming a quincunx. The Peirce quincuncial projection is a conformal Map projection (except for four points where its conformality fails that presents the sphere as a square	A quincunx of linga inside a yoni in Angkor. The word yoni (Sanskrit योिन yoni) is the Sanskrit word for "divine passage" "place of birth" "womb" in the sense of 'source Angkor is a name conventionally applied to the region of Cambodia serving as the seat of the Khmer empire that flourished from approximately the 9th century to
Bodrum Mosque in Istanbul, a typical example of building with a quincuncial plan. Bodrum Mosque ( Turkish: Bodrum Camii, or Mesih Paşa Camii after the name of its founder is a former Eastern Orthodox church converted Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey	The flag of the Solomon Islands features a quincunx of stars. The Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands

In literature

• The English physician Sir Thomas Browne in his philosophical discourse The Garden of Cyrus (1658) elaborates upon evidence of the quincunx pattern in art, nature and mystically as 'evidence' of intelligent design. Sir Thomas Browne ( October 19, 1605 &ndash October 19, 1682) was an English author of varied works which disclose his wide learning The Garden of Cyrus or The Quincunciall or Lozenge or Network Plantations of the Ancients naturally artificially mystically considered is a Discourse written Intelligent
• The Quincunx (ISBN 0-345-37113-5) is the title of a lengthy and elaborate novel by Charles Palliser set in 19th-century England, published in 1989. The Quincunx is the epic first novel of Charles Palliser. It takes the form of a Dickensian novel set in early 19th century England but Charles Palliser (born 1947) is an American -born British -based novelist elder brother of the late author and freelance journalist Marcus Palliser
• The Quincunx is the name of the lake with an island containing Mistress Masham's Repose in the novel of that name by T. H. White. Mistress Masham's Repose (1946 is a novel by T H White that describes the adventures of a girl who discovers a group of Lilliputians, a race of tiny Terence Hanbury White ( 29 May 1906 &ndash 17 January 1964) was an English Author best known for his sequence of Arthurian
• Lawrence Durrell's novel-sequence The Avignon Quintet is arranged in the form of a quincunx, according to the author. Lawrence George Durrell ( February 27, 1912 &ndash November 7, 1990) was an expatriate British Novelist, Poet, The Avignon Quintet is a five-volume series of novels by British writer Lawrence Durrell, published between 1974 and 1985 The final novel in the sequence is called Quinx, the plot of which includes the discovery of a quincunx of stones.