Pete's Blog
O'Beirne's cube
Much of what we make is two-dimensional. Hugh Montgomery, a mathematician at the University of Michigan, told us about an intriguing 3D dissection puzzle by Tom O’Beirne, a Scottish author...
O'Beirne's cube
Much of what we make is two-dimensional. Hugh Montgomery, a mathematician at the University of Michigan, told us about an intriguing 3D dissection puzzle by Tom O’Beirne, a Scottish author...
Archimedes's Puzzling Dissection
From 1998 to 2008, a team of researchers worked to unravel the secrets of a document first written in Byzantine Greek over 1000 years ago (check out this TED talk...
Archimedes's Puzzling Dissection
From 1998 to 2008, a team of researchers worked to unravel the secrets of a document first written in Byzantine Greek over 1000 years ago (check out this TED talk...
Ammann-Beenker might drive you bonkers
Most tilings we see around us are periodic tesselations. They are tesselations because there are no gaps, and periodic because they repeat like wallpaper. In fact, until the 1960s, people...
Ammann-Beenker might drive you bonkers
Most tilings we see around us are periodic tesselations. They are tesselations because there are no gaps, and periodic because they repeat like wallpaper. In fact, until the 1960s, people...
Patches?
Our son Max attended the United States Air Force Academy, and everyone had patches. The Academy is divided into 40 squadrons of about 100 cadets each. Each squadron has its own...
Patches?
Our son Max attended the United States Air Force Academy, and everyone had patches. The Academy is divided into 40 squadrons of about 100 cadets each. Each squadron has its own...
Create Celtic Knots
To artists and mathematicians, knots can be beautiful, interesting structures. Until recently, I hadn't explored them much from either perspective. Then my mother-in-law gave me a copy of George Bain's...
Create Celtic Knots
To artists and mathematicians, knots can be beautiful, interesting structures. Until recently, I hadn't explored them much from either perspective. Then my mother-in-law gave me a copy of George Bain's...
Try out Triknots
Our first knot puzzle was based on Celtic knot designs that begin with a square lattice, with diagonals representing the rope of the knot. The Celtic artist selectively replaced intersections...
Try out Triknots
Our first knot puzzle was based on Celtic knot designs that begin with a square lattice, with diagonals representing the rope of the knot. The Celtic artist selectively replaced intersections...