But here’s the thing: if someone asked me five minutes ago what tangled-up snakes demented checkerboards and crazy twisty surfaces have in common, what would you have answered?

This is why I love mathematics. The moment when you realize that something seemingly arbitrary and confusing is actually part of something. It’s better than the cleverest possible ending to any crime show or mystery novel, because that’s only the beginning.

There’s more wonderful doodling at her website, or on youtube. All full of math-y goodness, puns, denunciation of poor teaching, stop-action video and a remarkable lack of commas. (Does she ever inhale?)

Binary trees
Infinity elephants
Stars

You can show these to people, and it’s possible they won’t know they learned some math. Sneaky.