Tessellation History

Johannes Kepler performed one of the first known studies of tessellations when he wrote about the regular and semi-regular tessellations. In 1891, E.S. Fedorov ( a Russian crystallographer) proved that every tessellation of the plane is constructed in accordance to one of the seventeen different groups of isometries. The of the mathematical study of tessellations was marked by his work. M.C. Escher, a Dutch artist, was the most famous contributor to tessellations. His interest began in 1936, when he traveled to Spain and viewed the tile patterns used in the Alhambra. He spent many days sketching these tilings, and later claimed that this "was the richest source of inspiration that I have ever tapped."The original word tessellation comes from its use in art. From Ancient Greek a Tessera or Tessella is the small dice sized piece of stone used in mosaics. Therefore, as the dictionary suggests the origianal tessellations were mosaics. 

This is one of Escher's original tessellations