Round and round they turn.

A circle contains within it’s description an instance of infinity. It is a infinite sided polygon where every point on it’s perimeter (circumference) is equidistant to its center. And there it is, infinity. A concept that is vast and can also be used to describe the infinitely small. It is incomprehensible and yet we manipulate it to describe things in mathematics.

The wheel is often cited as one of mankind’s most significant inventions. Mankind was reaching for infinity without even knowing it. When the concept of static friction is applied between the wheel and another surface and a force is applied to the wheel, then the wheel will begin to roll, turning about its central axis. The wheel approximates a circle. A perfect circle exists only on the ideal realm where it can simply exist as an instance of the concept.

It’s funny, before we had the concept of infinity we had the concept of “round”. Before Thales or Euclid defined theorems about circles and their properties. Ever the tool users, humans used the technology before completely understanding it, a proud tradition that carries on today.