Summary
Misha Glenny and guests discuss the work of Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972), the graphic artist and printmaker best known for his impossible buildings, paradoxical perspectives, and repeating geometric patterns. Born in Leeuwarden and trained as a printmaker, Escher visited the Alhambra in Granada and found inspiration in the tessellating shapes of Islamic art. Through his career he went on to create some of the most famous images of the twentieth century and has been called a one-man art movement. After his work was exhibited in a 1954 conference, Escher’s work also caught the eye of mathematicians who appreciated his intuitive geometric precision. Escher was influenced by their work, and they were influenced by his – despite Escher never thinking he was actually very good at maths himself. With
Marcus du Sautoy Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, Professor of Mathematics and Fellow of New College, University of Oxford Sarah Hart Professor Emerita of Mathematics and Fellow of Birkbeck, University of London, and Fellow of Gresham College And Judith Kadee Exhibitions project manager and public programme curator at Hague Historical Museum Producer: Martha Owen
Reading list:
Marcus du Sautoy, Blueprints: How Mathematics Shapes Creativity (Fourth Estate, 2025)
Marcus du Sautoy, Finding Moonshine: A Mathematician’s Journey Into Symmetry (Harper Perennial, 2009)
Bruno Ernst, The Magic Mirror of M.C. Escher (Taschen, 2007)
M.C. Escher, M.C. Escher: The Graphic Work (Taschen America Llc, 1992)
Miranda Fellows, The Life and Works of Escher (Siena,1996)
Frederico Giudiceandrea, Escher op reis or Escher’s Journey (Publisher Wbooks, 2018, in Dutch)
Sarah Hart, Once Upon a Prime: The Wondrous Connections Between Mathematics and Literature (Flatiron Books, 2023)
Douglas Hofstadter, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (first published 1979; Basic Books, 1999)
Siobhan Roberts, King of Infinite Space: Donald Coxeter, The Man Who Saved Geometry (Profile Books, 2007)
Claudio Salsi, Paolo Branca and Claudio Bartocci (eds.), M.C. Escher. Tra arte e scienza. Catalogo della mostra (24 Ore Cultura, 2025, in Italian)
Doris Schattschneider, “The Mathematical Side of M.C. Escher” (Notices of the American Mathematical Society, Vol. 57, 6, 2010)
Doris Schattschneider, M.C. Escher: Visions of Symmetry (Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2004)
Wouter van Reek, Nadir & Zenith in the World of Escher (Leopold, 2019)
In Our Time is a BBC Studios production
Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.
Transcript
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| 1:03.6 | Hello, never-ending staircases, dizzying twists of perspectives and illusions that seem to defy the laws of physics. |
| 1:12.7 | That's the world of the Dutch graphic artist and printmaker Maurits Cornelis Escher, |
| 1:18.9 | known by us as M.C. Escher. Born in 1898, Escher was inspired by the geometric shapes of |
| 1:25.8 | Islamic art and went on to create some of the most famous images of the 20th century. |
... |
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