¶ Spherical Triangle Sequence (1)
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Index Entry
“If I draw a triangle on the Earth . . . and I asked a student to do that . . . and I said all right, I see four triangles. And he said, I see only one. There is the little area, the area he has defined quite clearly. He has divided the surface of the Earth (which was unit before he drew the triangle) into two areas, the areas on either side of the line. The little local triangle and the big spherical triangle goes clear around the Earth. It is a closed area bound by a line of three increments. It was such a big one he didn’t see it. And it is very typical of us to miss it. One of the most typical tricks I have found in humanity is to see the little www small one and miss the big one and the big one is the one that counts. Then I told him he drew four triangles and he said how did that happen. Well, they are spherical triangles and there is a concave little and a concave big as viewed from inside and there is a convex little and a convex big as viewed from outside. Convex and concave are not the same, so there are inherently four. In fact you will always find there are four there. Four is the minimum; and when we get to any kind of system, there is always four there. You will get used to that fourness and get used to not allowing yourself to become over confined and looking at the little ones.”
