Tessellations: What They Really Wasn T For M. C. Escher

There are things we see every day that we have no idea where they came from or what they are called. For example, the tile in your bathroom that is an arrangement of shapes closely fitted together, especially of polygons in a repeated pattern without gaps or overlapping is called a tessellation. Tessellations have been around since the 1800’s. Tessellations are everywhere and we do not even notice them. Tessellations are most commonly found in architecture, oriental carpets, quilts, origami, and wallpaper. Tessellations would not be what they are today if it weren’t for M. C. Escher. He created Famous math-Oriented and graphic art. He was born on June 17, 1898 and died on March 27, 1972. He was a “20th century dutch illustrator whose innovative
works explored echoing patterns, perception, space, and transformation (biography.com)”. His tessellations started out as woodcuts and wood engravings. In his lifetime, he made 448 lithographs (Mcescher.com). M.C. also illustrated books, designed tapestries, postage stamps, and murals. He traveled the Mediterranean sea and was influenced by the wonders of the Moor-designed Alhambra Palace in Spain. M.C and his brother both shared an appreciation for Islamic artwork. There are many different types of tessellations. From simple to complex, and everything inbetween. Tessellations are not only patters the involve mathematics, they are a work of art. There are regular tessellations that are made by repeating a regular polygon. Semi-regular tessellations that are made of two or more regular polygons and which the pattern at each vertex must be the same. There are “demiregular tessellations but mathematicians disagree on what they really are. Some tessellations are made from curved shapes and not just polygons. So that just makes tessellations even more common than we thought.