Visions of Symmetry by Doris Schattschneider, Freeman, pp 354, pounds sterling 27.95
The geometer, H. S. M. Coxeter, with his tongue only slightly in his cheek, attributed M. C. Escher's success as an illustrator and graphic artist to the fact that he was not constrained by the religious observances that forced the Moors to limit their decorative arts strictly to abstract forms. The Moors understood the symmetries that accompany the limited number of ways in which a plane can be divided or tessellated. Escher brought his more profane imagination to bear on the problem, and used not merely simple geometrical figures but the shapes of living things.
The decorative idea that attracted Escher - and, which because of its attraction for him, has held our attention ever since - is that of counterchange. Counterchange is the regular swapping of colours or shapes. It can be simple: for example, a chequered ...
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