ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Discrete differential geometry

Discrete differential geometry is a way of studying 3D shapes by taking lots of little pieces and figuring out how they fit together. It's like a jigsaw puzzle, but instead of seeing just the finished picture, we can also look at all the individual pieces and figure out the exact shapes and angles of them all. By understanding each of the small shapes and how they fit together, we can learn about the overall shape of the bigger object.