Chapter 8: WHY PRECISELY SEVENTEEN TYPES?



This final chapter methodically derives the seventeen types of wallpaper patterns starting from the 'simpler' (rotationless) ones and then using them to build the more involved ones, ruling out all non-existing possibilities. The first task is based on the interplay between pattern translations and the translations naturally associated with the pattern's (glide) reflection, and culminates in a characterization of the rotationless patterns in terms of their translations. The second task is based on the said characterization and also on simple observations (often related to isometry compositions and 'images') concerning the ways that (glide) reflection axes may be positioned with respect to the pattern's rotation centers.