There has always been an intimate connection between mathematics and the arts. Many of the math geeks I’ve known have had a strong interest in various forms of art. Back in college, I remember the majority of my fellow math majors being skilled with some kind of musical instrument. Rudy Rucker, one of the brilliant popular-math authors who originally inspired Math Mutation, is also known as a literary pioneer in the “cyberpunk” movement, as well as being an amateur painter in his spare time. Another inspiration was Douglas Hofstadter’s groundbreaking classic Godel, Escher, Bach, which explored connections ...