Project proposal: Penrose

[Tim Ellison]

On 12/01/2012 01:05, John Rose wrote:
> Here's quick comment; I've hesitated several times because I dislike
> name-choosing discussions.

Ah, a naming discussion ;-)

> I assume you chose the name Penrose to honor the creator of the
> world's cleverest tesselation algorithm.  So far so good.
> 
> Note that he is (a) still living and presumably highly interested in
> other people's use of his name, and (b) far more famous for his
> non-recreational math and physics.   For both reasons I suggest
> another name could work better for a software modularity project.

If I thought for a moment that the use of Sir Roger's surname and the
proposed project name would be a problem to him, or imply any practical
association, then I would certainly not pursue it.

> (Point (b) seems to me a little like naming a violin after Einstein,
> although Penrose tiling is a unique achievement.  Actually, IIRC,
> there was an attempt to market a cigar or cigarette called
> "Relativity" when Einstein was newly famous.)

An Einstein violin sounds wonderful!  I don't see the problem.

> Now I'll stick my neck out even farther:  Perhaps you already thought
> of this, but the grand master (before Roger Penrose) of tessellations
> is M.C. Escher, and this is a primary basis of his fame, at least
> among geeks.  Also, it would honor Penrose indirectly to name Escher
> in a "tiling" project; see the last paragraphs of: 
> http://www.worldofescher.com/misc/penrose.html
> 
> (Of course, maybe there is already an Escher modularity project, and
> this is the latest escalation of clever nomenclature.  How about
> "Tesseract", then:  Tiling in a new dimension?)
> 
> None of this is to dishonor Roger Penrose himself, whose books I find
> delightful and instructive.  If nobody shares my scruples (a) and
> (b), I'll be happy to forget about them.  In fact, I just did,
> anyway.

Thanks for your comments John, and I share your enthusiasm about the
work of Roger Penrose.  With respect, I don't have the same concerns
about the choice of name, and unless others feel strongly I'll let it stand.

Regards,
Tim