Thread: Human anatomy
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Old 05-22-2013, 02:12 AM
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ContourCraig ContourCraig is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ponytail View Post
.... A little reading in WikiPedia gave me some insight: This is mathematics way above my level.
Nor can I see how you want to form this into a paper human body.
The moebius band is really best illustrated as a paper model. You simply cut a centimetre or two wide strip off a piece of paper, loop it to join the ends, then rotate the top end 180 degrees and glue flush. Done.

The mathematical description is a nightmare. Firstly the moebius paper strips appears to have two parallel edges everywhere. But trace the edge with a finger, and one discovers the edge is really one line. This renders all the "Euclidian'" geometry one learns (or doesn't learn) in school redundant. It is a fundamental observation that the moebius band is assembled from trapezoid shaped paper strips. A smooth moebius band CANNOT be constructed from parallelograms. Try it and see. That is the extent of the math knowledge required.

The school classroom, requires that paper be kept in its "flat" state, mainly so that it can be assembled in books or neat stacks of loose exam papers. There would be physical chaos if the whole class submitted their papers in the form of moebius bands! Hence the subtle potential of the moebius band is discounted early on in education.... including medical education.
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