- published: 16 Oct 2013
- views: 464339
A pattern, from the French patron, is a type of theme of recurring events or objects, sometimes referred to as elements of a set of objects.
The elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. Patterns can be based on a template or model which generates pattern elements, especially if the elements have enough in common for the underlying pattern to be inferred, in which case the things are said to exhibit the unique pattern.
The most basic patterns, called Tessellations, are based on repetition and periodicity. In tessellation, a single template, tile, or cell is repeated without change or modification, usually in two dimensions to form a flat patterned surface.
Other patterns, such as Penrose tiling and Pongal or Kolam patterns from India, use symmetry which is a form of finite repetition, instead of translation which can repeat to infinity. Fractal patterns also use magnification or scaling giving an effect known as self-similarity or scale invariance. Some plants, like Ferns, generate a pattern using an affine transformation which combines translation, scaling, rotation and reflection.
There's one for the sorrow and two for the joy
And three for the girls and four for the boys
There's five for the silver and six for the gold
And seven for the secrets that are never to be told
There's eight in the river and nine in my head
And ten of the worst kind sleeping in my bed
There's a pattern, there's a pattern, there's a pattern there to follow
A pattern, there's a pattern, there's a pattern there to follow
Oh, oh, oh, to follow
Oh, oh, oh, to follow
There's one for the money and two for the sin
And three for the tongue when authority kicks in
There's four for the reason and five for the tricks
But nothing's going to save you from the six six six
There's seven for the days and seven for the nights
And seven for the heavens and the tunnel and the lights
There's a pattern, there's a pattern, there's a pattern there to follow
A pattern, there's a pattern, there's a pattern there to follow
Oh, oh, oh, to follow
Oh, oh, oh, to follow
To follow
To follow
To follow
Oh, oh, oh, to follow