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Several years ago, when I was just starting undergrad, I ran across an instructional text on chalking beautiful mathematical diagrams while killing time in the college library. In my infinite wisdom, I decided that I should remember this book's name, and find it again whenever I had the time to go through it.

A few weeks back, I finally thought about it again, but this event apparently preceded my book list—I've forgotten everything except its existence.

Is anyone aware of anything that might be it? The only other things I remember are some very nice fold-out illustrations and that it was at the tail end of the QAs, close to the astronomy and physics collections.

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    $\begingroup$ A library has a librarian. They live for this type of questions. worth a try even if you already have the answer as they might point you to something similar. $\endgroup$
    – tobi_s
    Feb 13, 2023 at 2:57

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Georges K. Francis, A topological picturebook

An excerpt from the color plates. picture

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    $\begingroup$ I do believe this is it! The title has none of the words I was using to describe it, so it's no wonder the library search was doing me no good. Thanks! $\endgroup$
    – Duncan W
    Feb 11, 2023 at 18:46
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    $\begingroup$ I had also nearly forgotten about the existence of this book until I read your question, only remembering it wistfully when trying to draw the intersection of some surfaces for a student $\endgroup$
    – sendit
    Feb 17, 2023 at 21:27
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This may or may not be the particular book you remember, but even if it's not, it may align with your interest:

Do Not Erase: Mathematicians and Their Chalkboards

“A mathematician, like a painter or poet, is a maker of patterns,” wrote the British mathematician G. H. Hardy. In Do Not Erase, photographer Jessica Wynne presents remarkable examples of this idea through images of mathematicians’ chalkboards. While other fields have replaced chalkboards with whiteboards and digital presentations, mathematicians remain loyal to chalk for puzzling out their ideas and communicating their research. Wynne offers more than one hundred stunning photographs of these chalkboards, gathered from a diverse group of mathematicians around the world. The photographs are accompanied by essays from each mathematician, reflecting on their work and processes. Together, pictures and words provide an illuminating meditation on the unique relationships among mathematics, art, and creativity.

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    $\begingroup$ I did google first, and found this. I don't think this is it, partly because the book seemed older, and partly because I specifically remember it being instructional, not artistic. $\endgroup$
    – Duncan W
    Feb 11, 2023 at 18:36

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