In 1891, Yevgraf Fyodorov proved that
there were only 17 wallpaper groups (a
mathematical classification of two-
dimensional patterns and symmetries) that
could tile a Euclidean plane (a two-
dimensional space defined by length and
width). Simply stated, there are only
17 ways to cover a two-dimensional
space using repetitive patterns.
Interestingly, the architects of the
Alhambra had already known this
some 650 years earlier, capturing 14
of the 17 patterns in their ornamental
tiling.
1891
In 1908, Georgy Voronoy was credited with the Voronoi diagram, a type of tessellation based on a set of points. Applications of the Voronoi diagram have extended research in the fields of cell biology, chemistry, astrophysics, engineering, and even epidemiology and the study of disease outbreaks.
1908