tes.sel.late vt -lat.ed ; -lat.ing [LL tessellatus, pp. of tessellare to pave with tesserae, fr. L tessella, dim. of tessera] (1789): to form into or adorn with mosaic

interesting.. i have been working my way throut Martin Gardner's Penrose Tiles and Trapdoor Ciphers, the book a series of essays from the mathmatical recreations column of Scientific American...

tesselations can be periodic, or non periodic..
the simple square, or hexigon tile, is periodic.. you can take any tile, and place it anywere in the field, and it will fit.. but non periodic tiles are different.. they can only fit in special places..
Penrose tiles are very special non periodic tiles. they also are used in ratio's, for penrose tiles, the ratio is 1.6 of shape A for every 1 of shape B.(the A shape is called a kite, the B shape a dart.. they have rules about how they can be place together.. (there are curved line on the tiles, and these lines must meet as well as the edges..

with out the curved lines, the two pieces would fit together to form a rhombus (diamons shape, with equal sides, and corner angles of 108º and 72º degrees..)

some of the math essays are beyond my understanding, and others i just barely understand..

i have always thought a quilt of penrose tiles would be exquisit.


my other obsession