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Bear with me on this, it does come back to words.
The mathematical equation whose graph is an ellipse is:
a * (x to the 2nd power) + b * (y to the 2nd power) = 1,
where a and b are any constants. a and be determine the size of the ellipse and how elongated it is. If a=b the result is a circle; thus a circle is a particular kind of an ellipse.
About 20 years ago a Dane, Piet Hein, experimented to see what kind of shape you'd get if you graphed a similar equation but change the 2's above. He found that if you change that number to about one-and-a-half, you get an esthetically pleasing shape, a compromise between an oval and a rectangle: one would roughly describe it as a rectangle with the corners cut off.
The term for that shape is "superellipse" Furniture in the Danish Modern style furniture often uses superellipses as, for example, the share of a tabletops. Danish traffic engineers design traffic ellipses in that shape, to minimize the sharp curves at the ends of the ellipse.
Hein has also authored numbers pithy poems, called "grooks".
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted Aggies Sparteye 08/30/01 03:53 PM Re: Aggies maverick 08/30/01 06:02 PM Re: Aggies Faldage 08/30/01 06:06 PM Re: Aggies wwh 08/30/01 06:37 PM Re: Aggies of troy 08/30/01 07:28 PM Re: Aggies tsuwm 08/30/01 06:57 PM Re: Aggies wwh 08/30/01 07:32 PM Re: Aggies tsuwm 08/30/01 07:46 PM Re: Aggies Faldage 08/30/01 07:56 PM Re: a lady? tsuwm 08/30/01 08:04 PM Re: Aggies wwh 08/30/01 09:36 PM Re: Aggies tsuwm 08/30/01 11:18 PM Re: Aggies Faldage 08/31/01 02:06 PM Re: Aggies Kupatchka 08/30/01 11:20 PM Re: Aggies Flatlander 08/30/01 07:30 PM Re: Aggies et al Faldage 08/30/01 07:34 PM Re: Aggies jimthedog 08/30/01 07:42 PM Re: Aggies of troy 08/30/01 08:09 PM Re: Aggies wwh 08/30/01 09:17 PM Re: Aggies, not! Faldage 08/31/01 02:13 PM Re: Aggies Sparteye 08/31/01 12:09 AM Re: Aggies Sparteye 09/01/01 12:38 AM Re: Aggies Sparteye 09/06/01 05:46 PM Re: Aggies wwh 09/06/01 08:35 PM Re: Tom Lehrer wow 09/07/01 02:48 PM Harvard fight song TEd Remington 09/07/01 03:00 PM Re: Harvard fight song Flatlander 09/07/01 03:03 PM Re: Harvard fight song TEd Remington 09/28/01 04:39 PM Re: superellipse Keiva 09/28/01 09:07 PM Re: superellipse Keiva 09/28/01 09:07 PM Re: Harvard fight song wow 09/07/01 03:31 PM Re: Fairies, schmairies Faldage 09/07/01 03:53 PM Re: Aggies Sparteye 09/10/01 06:29 PM Re: Aggies Faldage 09/10/01 06:43 PM Re: Spartans Keiva 09/30/01 11:45 AM Re: that other Michigan team consuelo 09/30/01 02:47 PM Re: Spartans Jazzoctopus 09/30/01 04:10 PM Re: a challenge: the Caxi Keiva 09/27/01 05:59 PM Re: Dunno bout no Caxis Faldage 09/27/01 06:22 PM Re: Dunno bout no Caxis Keiva 09/27/01 11:02 PM Re: Dunno bout no Caxis Jackie 09/28/01 01:13 AM Re: Dunno bout no Caxis inselpeter 09/28/01 03:05 AM Re: post deleted by Keiva Keiva 09/28/01 11:49 AM Re: Dunno bout no Caxis Keiva 09/28/01 11:49 AM Re: Caxis Keiva 09/30/01 11:38 AM Re: Caxis Jackie 09/30/01 03:55 PM Re: Caxis inselpeter 09/30/01 04:11 PM Audience consuelo 09/30/01 05:14 PM Re: Audience Keiva 09/30/01 10:06 PM Re: Dunno bout no Caxis Faldage 09/28/01 01:56 PM
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