Extracting regularities from temporal sequences of events is central to human cognition. By identifying patterns, people form predictions about upcoming events. If, when waiting at a train crossing, ...

Scientists mapping the human body at the cellular level keep running into the same surprise: beneath the apparent chaos of tissues and organs, there is a hidden order that looks a lot like pure ...

As Sigmund Freud made very clear, human beings are compelled to repeat patterns—the repetition compulsion. Patterns laid down early in life are propelled forward to recreate the familiar that can be ...

Have you ever found yourself captivated by the intricate repeating designs on fabric, wrapping paper, and more? There’s something truly magical about repeating patterns that can transform ordinary ...

Remember the graph paper you used at school, the kind that’s covered with tiny squares? It’s the perfect illustration of what mathematicians call a “periodic tiling of space”, with shapes covering an ...

Why do humans love to look at patterns? I can only guess, but I’ve written a whole book about new mathematical ways to make them. In Creating Symmetry, The Artful Mathematics of Wallpaper Patterns, I ...