Michele Emmer was full professor of mathematics at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” to 2015, as well as a writer, journalist and filmmaker. He is a member of the Istituto Veneto Scienze Lettere Arti (IVSLA), Venice. His area of interests are PDE and minimal surfaces; relationships between mathematics and the arts; and architecture, cinema and culture. He has been a member of the Leonardo Editorial Board since 1992.