Geometry of light

SOMEWHERE IN THAT REALM where all things are fully known, the geometry of light, too, would stand revealed. Perhaps it would form patterns like this mandala, as light travels from point to point in a dance of straight and curving lines. 

There is some faint echo in this design of the 17th century, of an age caught between old forms of understanding the cosmos and the new scientific approach, when fanciful and somehow fruitful blends of the two systems led to the creation of fabulous diagrams purporting to unravel such mysteries as light. Yet still, in the 20th century, light retained all its mystery, even for one such as Albert Einstein – so much so that he once said he would like to spend the remainder of his life reflecting on what it actually is.