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Quoting from

Martin Gardner: Curves of constant width, one of which makes it possible to drill square holes, Scientific American Vol. 208, No. 2 (February 1963), pp. 148-158:

Is the circle the only closed curve of constant width? Most people would say yes, thus providing a sterling example of how far one's mathematical intuition can go astray. Actually there is an infinity of such curves. Any of them can be cross section of a roller that will roll a platform as smoothly as a circular cylinder! The failure to recognize such curves can have and has had disastrous consequences in industry. To give an example, it might be taught that the cylindrical hull of a half-built submarine could be tested for circularity by just measuring maximum widths in all directions. As will soon be made clear, such a hull can be monstruously lopsided and still pass such a test. It is precisely for this reason that the circularity of a submarine hull is always tested by applying curved templates.

Quoting from

Martin Gardner: Curves of constant width, one of which makes it possible to drill square holes, Scientific American Vol. 208, No. 2 (February 1963), pp. 148-158:

Is the circle the only closed curve of constant width? Most people would say yes, thus providing a sterling example of how far one's mathematical intuition can go astray. Actually there is an infinity of such curves. Any of them can be cross section of a roller that will roll a platform as smoothly as a circular cylinder! The failure to recognize such curves can have and has had disastrous consequences in industry. To give an example, it might be thought that the cylindrical hull of a half-built submarine could be tested for circularity by just measuring maximum widths in all directions. As will soon be made clear, such a hull can be monstruously lopsided and still pass such a test. It is precisely for this reason that the circularity of a submarine hull is always tested by applying curved templates.

Quoting from

Martin Gardner: Curves of constant width, one of which makes it possible to drill square holes, Scientific American Vol. 208, No. 2 (February 1963), pp. 148-158

Is the circle the only closed curve of constant width? Most people would say yes, thus providing a sterling example of how far one's mathematical intuition can go astray. Actually there is an infinity of such curves. Any of them can be cross section of a roller that will roll a platform as smoothly as a circular cylinder! The failure to recognize such curves can have and has had disastrous consequences in industry. To give an example, it might be taught that the cylindrical hull of a half-built submarine could be tested for circularity by just measuring maximum widths in all directions. As will soon be made clear, such a hull can be monstruously lopsided and still pass such a test. It is precisely for this reason that the circularity of a submarine hull is always tested by applying curved templates.

Quoting from

Martin Gardner: Curves of constant width, one of which makes it possible to drill square holes, Scientific American Vol. 208, No. 2 (February 1963), pp. 148-158:

Is the circle the only closed curve of constant width? Most people would say yes, thus providing a sterling example of how far one's mathematical intuition can go astray. Actually there is an infinity of such curves. Any of them can be cross section of a roller that will roll a platform as smoothly as a circular cylinder! The failure to recognize such curves can have and has had disastrous consequences in industry. To give an example, it might be taught that the cylindrical hull of a half-built submarine could be tested for circularity by just measuring maximum widths in all directions. As will soon be made clear, such a hull can be monstruously lopsided and still pass such a test. It is precisely for this reason that the circularity of a submarine hull is always tested by applying curved templates.

Quoting from

Martin Gardner: Curves of constant width, one of which makes it possible to drill square holes, Scientific American Vol. 208, No. 2 (February 1963), pp. 148-158:

Is the circle the only closed curve of constant width? Most people would say yes, thus providing a sterling example of how far one's mathematical intuition can go astray. Actually there is an infinity of such curves. Any of them can be cross section of a roller that will roll a platform as smoothly as a circular cylinder! The failure to recognize such curves can have and has had disastrous consequences in industry. To give an example, it might be taught that the cylindrical hull of a half-built submarine could be tested for circularity by just measuring maximum widths in all directions. As will soon be made clear, such a hull can be monstruously lopsided and still pass such a test. It is precisely for this reason that the circularity of a submarine hull is always tested by applying curved templates.

Quoting from

Martin Gardner: Curves of constant width, one of which makes it possible to drill square holes, Scientific American Vol. 208, No. 2 (February 1963), pp. 148-158

Is the circle the only closed curve of constant width? Most people would say yes, thus providing a sterling example of how far one's mathematical intuition can go astray. Actually there is an infinity of such curves. Any of them can be cross section of a roller that will roll a platform as smoothly as a circular cylinder! The failure to recognize such curves can have and has had disastrous consequences in industry. To give an example, it might be taught that the cylindrical hull of a half-built submarine could be tested for circularity by just measuring maximum widths in all directions. As will soon be made clear, such a hull can be monstruously lopsided and still pass such a test. It is precisely for this reason that the circularity of a submarine hull is always tested by applying curved templates.