Squiggle on the Wall

A Minute of My Time by Micah Lexier. Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, 2006.

Photo by I. Peterson

Reflected Night Glow

Wisconsin State Capitol, Madison, Wisconsin, 2008.

See also "Capitol Reflections."

Photo by I. Peterson

Aristotelian Cosmology

In this 1545 depiction of Aristotelian cosmology, Petrus Apianus shows a stationary Earth at the center of the universe, surrounded by seven concentric "crystalline" spheres, which carry the sun, the moon, and the planets.

Reproduced from the collections of the Library of Congress

House Icicles

Meadville, Pennsylvania, 2010.

See also "Icicle Distributions."

Photo by I. Peterson

Optimizing Path

Foot traffic creates an optimizing path that takes into consideration obstacles and slope. Washington, D.C., 2016.

See also "Statistical Wear" and "Elevator Buttons and Stone Steps."

Photo by I. Peterson

Ivied Column

Milan, Italy, 2010.

Photo by I. Peterson

Star Lights

Garden of Lights, Brookside Gardens, Silver Spring, Maryland, 2017.

Photo by I. Peterson

Lights on Old and New

Lighting up vehicles, old and new. Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2015.

Photo by I. Peterson

Hanging Star

Street decoration. Washington, D.C., 2017.

Photo by I. Peterson

Frost Spikes

Columbia, Missouri, 1981.

Photo by I. Peterson

Torus Candle

Street decoration, Montreal, Quebec, 2006.

Photo by I. Peterson

Window Arch

Hamilton Hotel, Washington, D.C., 2017.

Photo by I. Peterson

Grid Shadows

Washington, D.C., 2017.

Photo by I. Peterson

Red Leaf

Washington, D.C., 2017.

Photo by I. Peterson

Light Branches

Garden of Lights, Brookside Gardens, Silver Spring, Maryland, 2017.

Photo by I. Peterson

Fan Tail

Washington, D.C., 2017.

Photo by I. Peterson

Flower Lights

Garden of Lights, Brookside Gardens, Silver Spring, Maryland, 2017.

Photo by I. Peterson

Stacked Stone Sphere

Stacked Stone Sphere by Devin Devine. Brookside Gardens, Silver Spring, Maryland, 2017.

Photo by I. Peterson

Crystal Christmas

Exhibit of contemporary Christmas art. Milan, Italy, 2010.

Photo by I. Peterson

Frosted Niagara

Niagara Falls, Ontario, 1980.

Photo by I. Peterson

Three Ways

Ottawa, Ontario, 1974.

Photo by I. Peterson

Icicle Time

Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 1981.

See also "Icicle Distributions."

Photos by I. Peterson

Tree Row

Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, 1978.

Photo by I. Peterson

Burst Column

Burst of Joy by Harold Kimmelman. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2000.

Photo by I. Peterson

Face of Pittsburgh

Union Station, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2008.

Photo by I. Peterson

Prairie Sun

Tucker Prairie, Callaway County, Missouri, 1980.

Photo by I. Peterson

Snow Bench

Trinity College School, Port Hope, Ontario, 1979.

Photo by I. Peterson

Curtain Wall

Edith Green - Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, Portland, Oregon, 2014.

Photos by I. Peterson

Old Cemetery

Old Jewish Cemetery, Prague, Czechoslovakia, 1985.

Photo by I. Peterson

Oval with Points

Oval with Points by Henry Moore. Princeton University. Princeton, New Jersey, 2006.

Photo by I. Peterson

Shore Birds

Perce Rock, Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec, 1974.

Photo by I. Peterson

Fake Flake

Snowflake street decoration with incorrect octagonal (rather than hexagonal) symmetry. Washington, D.C., 2017.

Photo by I. Peterson

Giant Steps

Giant Steps by Enrico Riley. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, 2017.

Photo by I. Peterson

Trapezoid Stool

"Rotating Shapes" stool, created by Mary Elizabeth Yarborough. Exploratorium, San Francisco, California, 2013.

See also "Triangle Seat."

Photo by I. Peterson

Torus Coloring

Seven-color tori knit by sarah-marie belcastro (left) and Carolyn Yackel (right). Mathematical Art Exhibit, MAA MathFest, San Jose, California, 2007.

Photo by I.Peterson

Star Dodecahedron

Dodecahedron I: Small Stellated Dodecahedron by Valdimir Bulatov. Exhibition of Mathematical Art, Joint Mathematics Meetings, San Diego, California, 2008.

Photo by I. Peterson

Gold Carpet

A tree-centered distribution of leaves. What can you say about the conditions under which the leaves fell? Washington, D.C., 2017.

Photo by I. Peterson

Sawdust Distributions

What caused this pattern of spaced sawdust clumps, diminishing in size to the left? Washington, D.C., 2017.

More clues.

Photos by I. Peterson

Sweeping Up

Gargoyle, Wells Cathedral, England, 1975.

Photo by I. Peterson

Wintry Slope

Kingston, Ontario, 1974.

Photo by I. Peterson

Wood Stain

Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York, 2009.

Photo by I. Peterson

Lotus Blooms

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2012.

Photo by I. Peterson

Mountain Mists

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, 1981.

Photo by I. Peterson

White Yellow Black

Building decoration, Toronto, Ontario, 2006.

Photo by I. Peterson

Golden Triangle

Banner with logo of the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District: Moebius strip,or not?. Washington, D.C., 2017.

See also "Impossible Logo."

Photo by I. Peterson

Gold Tree

Gunston Hall, Mason Neck, Virginia, 1982.

Photo by I. Peterson

Mace Moebius

Mace Moebius by Charles O. Perry. Crystal City, Virginia, 2000.

See also "Mobius Continuum" and "Moebius Eclipse." 

Photo by I. Peterson