Constructing the 15th Tiling Pentagon
- Author:
- Jennifer Silverman
This is a construction of the newly-discovered pentagon that tiles the plane, the 15th one to be found. I was inspired to create it when my friend, John Golden, pointed me to the work of Simon Gregg, who had expanded upon the observation of Jim Millar, that this pentagon could be represented with pattern blocks. Pattern blocks, I can do! So, here it is.
For those of you who think all of math is old and musty, this is brand new as I write, August, 2015. Jennifer McLoud-Mann, Casey Mann, and David Von Derau — all of the University of Washington, Bothell, are the mathematicians who found the tiling.
Read more about the discovery at http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/08/14/432015615/with-discovery-3-scientists-chip-away-at-an-unsolvable-math-problem
Look up the other 14 tilings. Can you make any other of the irregular pentagons with pattern blocks?