The idea of a duality such as air and water can be expressed in a picture by starting from a plane-filling design of birds and fish; the birds are "water" for the fish, and the fish are "air" for the birds. Heaven and Hell can be symbolized by an interplay of angels and devils. There are many other possible pairs of dynamic subjects--at least in theory, for in most cases, their realization meets with insuperable difficulties. M.C. Escher |
1998 celebrates the centennial of Mauritus Cornelis Escher. M.C. Escher captured in his most famous artwork several important mathematical concepts, exploiting their use for aesthetic purposes. We chose his work "Metamorphosis II" for the cover of the book not only for the obvious link to the subject of the book, but by its incredible plastic appeal, and the richness and variety of detail.
The section on the cover is specially noteworthy, as it seamlessly flows from a planar two-dimensional subdivision of the plane to a complex three-dimensional environment. In a way, this was also one of the major goals we had in writing this book, to lay a common base of object representation and transformation theory upon which one could smoothly transition among previously disparate morphing concepts.
Recommended reading: Godel, Escher, Bach [Amazon]