[ClearCase_guy]

A mathematical discovery ought to have some established justification in order for it to be meaningful. Putting down tiles in a pattern and walking away is perhaps interesting, but I'm not sure I find it significant.

Also, looking for a non-repeating series is hard -- but I'm sure it gets a lot easier if you're willing to overlook the 11 flaws in the series.

[jiggyboy]

looking for a non-repeating series is hard

Oops I meant to include this in my previous post. The decimal representation for "pi" is a decimal that does not repeat, and as mathematical proofs go, it's an easy one.

A rough explanation (not a proof):

pi = 4 * (1/1 - 1/3 + 1/5 - 1/7 ...)

Its denominator is made up of every fraction added together, which means you can't express it simply as one finite integer divided by another finite integer.

Similarly, Roger Penrose proved mathematically that a certain number of different shapes, each of a certain geometry, can not fit together in a repeating pattern like very complicated squares or hexagons, and he proved that there can be as few as two different shapes. He didn't have to draw out a million of them.

[mathurine]

Maybe they were trying to follow a pattern but just couldn’t get the hang of it.