Tilings, Tricks, and Tessellations

Of the two images at the top of the page, the first is the finished product from our 'advanced tilers' and the second is the larger one built by the general public. Both tilings contain errors, of different kinds. Even correct tiling is susceptible to tiny placement errors, which tend to grow over time, eventually leading to skewed patterns. The tiling on the right contains tiles placed in 'illegal' positions, which may cause a problem *much* later in the tiling (these are marked in pen on the tiling).

THIS EVENT HAS NOW FINISHED

(IT WAS FUN!)

On Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th October 2017 the University of Bath Maths department will open its doors for you to come and explore the mathematical world of symmetry, tricks, illusions, tilings and tessellations. This is suitable for intrigued people of all ages. Come as a family or a curious adult!

We'll have some hands on activities for you to try:

• The world's largest jigsaw - come and tile the plane with the aperiodic Penrose Tiling. We need your help to make a large piece of artwork we'd like to display at the University.
• Impossible Figures - come and try your hand at drawing things that cannot exist. M. C. Escher was a Dutch artist who specialised in beautiful but mind boggling images which sometimes defy reality. Come and see how he did some of his work, and try out your own.
• Wallpaper spotting! - There are only 17 wallpaper patterns possible in this world (i.e. 17 mathematical ways to design a repeating pattern) - bring a sample or photo of your favourite wallpaper, or wrapping paper at home and we'll try to identify which type it is.

4 West Atrium (lower ground floor)

at the University of Bath

10am to 4pm

Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th October 2017.

(map link)

Email Ben Sparks (ben@bensparks.co.uk) if you have any further questions.

If you would like to volunteer to help out at this event, please sign up here.

(From the team that brought you the MegaMenger (2014), the Crypto Challenge (2015), and the MegaPixel (2016))

How to get here

Parking at the university can be a pain, so why not use public transport to get up here: http://www.bath.ac.uk/guides/travelling-by-bus-to-the-university-of-bath/

For general travel advice you can see the University advice page here: http://www.bath.ac.uk/collections/travel-advice/ or the Parking advice in particular here: http://www.bath.ac.uk/corporate-information/visitor-car-parking-on-our-claverton-down-campus/

(remember, parking is limited onsite and you will almost certainly have a better day if you come by public transport!)