[mturmon]

You may already know this, but in your observation about "math having only so many shapes" has been explored in some depth. There is a wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature

but I first learned about it from the book, "Patterns in Nature", by Peter S. Stevens (http://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Nature-Peter-S-Stevens/dp/031...), which was recommended to me by a noted poet.

[3rd3]

There is a similar, but less mathematical and pretty old book called Artforms of Nature by Ernst Haeckel (1904) [1]. It’s in the public domain.

[1] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kunstformen_der_Natur

[davidw]

I'm glad that page linked to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesco_broccoli

The first time I saw it in a store here in Italy I got all excited and started staring at it up close.

[mturmon]

My daughter loves that stuff. I was pleased.