On May 2, 2019, Dr. Doris Schattschneider, Professor Emeritus at Moravian College and the leading expert on the mathematics behind the artwork of M.C. Escher, will present “Marjorie Rice and her Pentagonal Tilings.” The talk will take place at 5:30 p.m. in SunTrust Theater, Brock Commons (304 Henry St.). This event, which is sponsored by the Mathematics Department, is free and open to the public. Map and Directions

Which convex pentagons can tile the plane? And what do their tilingslook like? Those questions have tantalized mathematicians and amateursalike for over 100 years. Marjorie Rice (1923-2017) contributed muchto answering this question. This lecture tells Rice’s fascinating story: withno higher mathematical training, she pursued her self-assigned taskof finding all types of convex pentagons that can tile the plane and thetilings they produce, and even designed Escher-like tessellations fromthem.