I was going to do a blog post called ‘Circle Quotations’‘ but funny or interesting quotes about a mathematical concept are few and far between. Then I found this one-
Why is a polar bear never lost in the Arctic Circle?
Because it uses Polar Coordinates.
I think you have to be a math person to appreciate the wit, and that isn’t normally me, except I know that the ‘Digital Marbles’ I make in my photo program use a polar coordinate filter to turn square photos into circles.
I don’t know how the polar coordinate filter works, but I like the result. The circles remind me of the marbles I played with as a child.
Are you old enough to remember when marbles and jacks were popular games? How about skipping and hop scotch; tag, hide and seek, leap frog, and yo-yos? Hula hoops! In the winter, fox and hounds, red rover (skating version), crack the whip, snowball fights and tobogganing!
I made the following two ‘marbles’ from photos of Desert Chicory.
How many degrees does a circle have?
Depends on how long it’s been in school.
-Author Unknown –
These is the original photo. Desert Chicory is a wild flower growing in Arizona.
Here are some of the other ‘marbles’ I’ve made:
Amusives 