I’ve never read Middlemarch (1871). But I have seen a middlemoth. It was when I was looking at a new way of creating fractLs. A fractL is what I call a graph shaped like a capital L, with the x- and y-axes representing values between 0 and 1, like 1/2 and 1/3 and 8/55. You can also use numbers > 1 to create numbers < 1: 73 → 0.73; 128719 → 0.128719; and so on. But I decided to reverse the integer before converting it: 73 → 0.37; 128719 → 0.917821; and so on. And use different bases for the x- and y-axes. So that’s what I did on a fractL: I mapped fractions converted from integers in one base against fractions converted from integers in another base. The results, as you can see, were spectacularly dull:

fractL for int→frac in base 2 and base 6

fractL for int→frac in base 3 and base 6

fractL b04, b06

fractL b06, b08

So I decided to try some perspectivision, mapping the integer-fractions not on a fractL but on a fractO instead. A fractO is a circle where you find a point inside the circle by using two fractions, fr1 and fr2, to create two radian values: θ1 = fr1 * 2 * π and θ2 = fr2 * 2 * π. Then you use θ1 and θ2 to find two points on the perimeter of the circle, (x1, y1) and (x2, y2), and then find their midpoint, (x3, y3) = ((x1, y1) + (x2, y2)) / 2. The results this time are much more pleasing on the eye:

fractO for integers in base 2 and base 6

↑

fractL b02, b06, for fractO b02, b06

Here’s an animated gif showing the conversion from visually dull fractL to visually interesting fractO:

fractL b02b06 to fractO b02b06 (animated at EZgif)

When I was looking at more fractOs, I found one that was lepidopterally interesting too:

fractO b09, b12 with middlemoth

fractO b09, b12 (middlemoth in green)

You can try spotting more pareidolia in more fractOs from reversed fractintegers:

fractO b03, b15

↑

fractL b03, b15 for fractO above

fractL b03b15 to fractO b03b15 (animated at EZgif)

fractO b02, b10

fractO b02, b12

fractO b02, b14

fractO b03, b06

fractO b03, b12

fractO b03, b21

fractO b04, b06

fractO b04, b20

fractO b06, b08

fractO b09, b15

fractO b10, b24

fractO b12, b16

fractO b15, b20

fractO b24, b28

fractO b42, b78

fractO b02, b18 (fr2 x 3)

fractO b02, b06 (fr2 x 3)