<[Alan]> Timaeus is batshit insane. I remember seeing a proof near the end of a group theory class that there were only 5 Platonic Solids. More precisely, that there were only 3 symmetry groups in 3d, each of them giving rise a solid and its dual, but that the tetrahedron is its own dual, so there's only 5. It still blew my mind. Why 5? Why not some other number? In the end, we're still grappling with something mystical at its core, and on this level our own explanations seem no less absurd and no more advanced. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timaeus_(dialogue)#The_Elements <[Brennen]> This reminds me that if I haven't recommended Stephenson's ''Anathem'' yet, well, here you go.