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Hans van der Genugten wrote: > (What is TESSERACT?) The word is evidently derived from the Latin 'tessera' (which later became 'tessella'), which was a small rectangular piece of wood or stone used for making mosaic patterns. The word has become adapted more recently into the verb 'tessellate', meaning to 'divide a surface into repeating regular shapes' (without any gaps). A branch of mathematics has evolved to deal with this issue where, of course, one is not limited to merely two or three dimensions. One of the most imaginative and successful practioners of the art of tessellation in recent times was your own countryman Maurits Escher. His beautiful illustrations of interlocking fish, birds, dogs, horsemen, and other assorted shapes continue to amaze and delight the world. L'emgle's idea (as reported by Hilary Blue) is another manifestation of a fertile imagination born of geometry. Roger Buxton