My design for this coffee table and slipcase stemmed from the Illuminati, an ancient cult devoted to the sciences, and who at one time was at war with the Catholic Church.  This ancient cult played a very pivital role in the novel Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown.  4 cardinals are kidnapped right before one of the is to be elected Pope, and the assumed culprits are the Illuminati.  It turns out that the last thing these 4 cardinals did before being kidnapped and murdered was have coffee in the Pope’s library.  The coffee table is made of red oak, the material of choice in the Pope’s library, and of bloodwood, which symbolizes the war between Christianity and science.  The table has 4 tabletops, once for each cardinal.  Everything else appears as increments of 5, a sacred number to the Illuminati.  The main frame of the table is laminated 5 strips wide, and each joint was connected with 5 dowels.  The bloodwood, which is in-layed across the 4 tabletops,  is in the shape of pentagon, a 5-sided shape derived from the pentagram, a 5-pointed star.  If the table is flipped over, it is a mirror image of itself, as duality is another important symbol for the Illuminati.  The elliptical coasters for the coffee table are one final significant shape that according to the Illuminati symbolizes perfection.  Lastly, the slipcase for the book follows the same pattern as the table.  It is a pentagon that is a mirror image of itself if flipped 180 degrees.