The optimal known packing of 17 squares

“math is beautiful” “math is elegant” bro what the fuck is this The optimal known packing of 17 equal squares into a larger square – i.e. the arrangement which minimises the size of the large square.

A screenshot shows a tweet mocking the phrase “math is beautiful” alongside a dense geometric arrangement of 17 equal gray squares packed into a larger square. The joke is that an elegant mathematical optimization looks confusing and ugly to someone who cannot see the beauty in it, so the image is used as a reaction to overly abstract or pretentious math. EN: A screenshot shows a tweet mocking the phrase “math is beautiful” alongside a dense geometric arrangement of 17 equal gray squares packed into a larger square. The joke is that an elegant mathematical optimization looks confusing and ugly to someone who cannot see the beauty in it, so the image is used as a reaction to overly abstract or pretentious math.

• @beobanka / 25494 2023-05-23