The mathematics of origami has moved beyond early efforts to show how much higher maths could be recapitulated in folds (answer: a surprising amount).

The need for such approaches becomes acute when you move to materials other than paper—materials which cannot be treated by assuming that they are infinitely thin and stress-free. Bend a sheet of steel and it will not lie flat. It may also be under considerable strain at and far from the fold. Such “rigid origami” needs new maths; it also offers new abilities...