Romantic mathematical art. I (Q2204979)

Romantic culture is often accused of creating a rift between the arts and the science. However, some concepts of Romanticism, such as the feeling of infinity and impossibility, can be mathematically described. In a column for ``The Mathematical Intelligencer,'' a short and delightful text, titled ``Romantic Mathematical Art: Part I,'' Jim Henle starts precisely from the ideas of infinity and impossibility to talk about the beauty of mathematics. The concept of (apparently) uselessness and (sure) aesthetic pleasure in math are central. However, are we sure that mathematics, even when it is just beautiful and apparently uselessness, is really uselessness? Godfrey H. Hardy was of a different advice: ``Indeed, there is more to be said, since there is one purpose at any rate which the real mathematics may serve in war. When the world is mad, a mathematician may find in mathematics an incomparable anodyne.'' [\textit{G. H. Hardy}, A mathematician's apology. With a foreword by C. P. Snow. Reprint of the 1992 edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2012; Zbl 1242.01040)] page 45]. Henle also mentions the ``fear of infinity'' and the ``apeirophobia'' of our days, recalling the Anaximander's notion of indeterminacy (``apeiron'' in Ancient Greek). Infinity is one of the triggers of mathematical curiosity and of mathematical artistic applications. Art is connected with aesthetic pleasure, and the aesthetic pleasure often motivates mathematicians' work -- and Hardy might agree with this. Examples mentioned by Henle range from plane tiles, Penrose tiles, fractals, also including an intriguing game with a re-reading of the classic myth of Lernaean Hydra. And again, the classical world of Ancient Greece is still present and lively, from a frightening monster to the silent calm of a perfectly tessellated floor. Among others, Henle mentions the work of Marjorie Rice, an amateur mathematician who made important discoveries in geometry. The mathematical simple pleasure can lead to singular discoveries. \textit{D. Schattschneider} [``In praise of amateurs'', in: The mathematical Gardner (19810), \url{http://www.math.jhu.edu/~eriehl/301-s19/Schattschneider-Amateurs.pdf}] describes Marjorie Rice as ``a San Diego housewife and mother of five [children];'' she ``was usually the first one in the household to read her son's magazine,'' and had ``thought how wonderful it must have been to discover the new types of pentagon tiles.'' Rice also created beautiful drawings after these tessellations; see the article by Wolchover for some images [\textit{N. Wolchover}, Marjorie Rice's secret pentagons. Quanta Magazine (2017)]. It's fascinating to know that the Mathematical Association of America used Rice's pentagon tessellations to decorate a floor in Washington. Henle mentions another amateur mathematician who made discoveries, Lee Sallow. With a quick search on Wikipedia, I found the golygon, a polygon with right angles, whose sides' lengths are consecutive natural numbers. Another mathematical delight is the Penrose tiling, without a global symmetry. Penrose recently gained the Nobel Prize for physics, but really had interdisciplinary interests. The reader could be amazed to know that the Penrose tiling has been recently transformed into music [\textit{D. Ong}, J. Math. Arts 14, No. 4, 285--296 (2020; Zbl 1466.00020)]. References to M. C. Escher's marvelous artworks and infinite combinatorial art complete the text, ended by an intriguing application of a magic game card on an infinite deck. Within ``mathematical art,'' Henle also includes simple, elegant mathematical games, which are easy to prove for several numbers, but that are almost impossible to prove in general. To connect with further readings, the idea of aesthetic pleasure, connected with creativity, is discussed in ``Pleasure'' by \textit{A. Lowen} [Pleasure: a creative approach to life. Hinesburg: The Alexander Lowen Foundation (2006)]. I also started from this idea in my short article [Lect. Notes Comput. Sci. 11502, 379--382 (2019; Zbl 1448.00016)]. In the same article, I mentioned an application of combinatorial art, with a musical version of the Rubik's cube (the CubeHarmonic). Today, mathematical art also includes Hilbert paths, category theory, mazes, curvatures, and so on [Mathematical art galleries. Bridges (2020), \url{http://gallery.bridgesmathart.org/exhibitions/2020-Bridges-Conference}]. Regarding tessellations, a recent and well-comprehensive discussion of tessellations is contained in the a recent book by \textit{R. Fathauer} [Tessellations. mathematics, art, and recreation. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press (2021; Zbl 1446.52001)]. Summarizing, the column by Henle can be a marvelous starting point for an exploration in the world of mathematical beauty and math-inspired art.