zen geometry

500 year old Ryoanji temple garden, Kyoto.
In 2002 Gert Van Tonder of Kyoto University discovered 500-year-old rock patterns suggest 'tree' to our subconscious mind. The beauty of one of Japan's most popular Zen gardens has long eluded explanation. Now neuroscientists have discovered its minimalist design suggests a pleasing picture to our subconcious. Using symmetry calculations the objects imply a tree image in the empty space. The finding suggests that Japanese garden designers - originally priests - "balanced forces from visual science," says study leader Van Tonder. Repeating the calculations with random rock groups failed to generate any similar patterns. Earlier work by Ilona Kovács, a visual scientist at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, showed that the human brain uses similar symmetry lines, like those of a child's stick figure, to make sense of shapes. See also gestalt theory.