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To: RightWhale
" . . . finite, and unbounded."

Oxymoron or typo?

13 posted on 11/05/2007 10:27:26 AM PST by Eastbound
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To: Eastbound

“Finite, yet unbounded” was used in a graphic novel (comic book) called “So Beautiful, and So Dangerous”, but is a quote of Einstein.


15 posted on 11/05/2007 11:16:27 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Monday, October 22, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: Eastbound
Oxymoron or typo?

Take the surface of the earth. We know it's finite in area, but you can travel in a straight line anywhere on its surface and never fall off an edge, say, or bump into some kind of giant wall that lets you go no further. It's finite, but unbounded. The universe may be the same, except in three dimensions (or more) instead of two.

16 posted on 11/05/2007 11:31:21 AM PST by LibWhacker (Democrats are phony Americans)
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To: Eastbound

It’s topology. Mathematical concepts often seem strange at first.


17 posted on 11/05/2007 12:16:39 PM PST by RightWhale (anti-razors are pro-life)
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