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RE: Gabriel's Horn - The shape you could fill with paint, but could never actually paint!

in #mathematics8 years ago

Infinite surface area and finite volume is one of my favorite paradoxes. Amazing that Torricelli postulated this before Isaac Newton invented calculus. I assume it was formally proved in the 1700s?

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Absolutely! Torricelli had used a Euclidean proof to nail this down. Amazing how Integral Calculus makes this idea a little more palatable.

Use a Euclidean proof to prove something non-Euclidean has infinite surface area and finite volume. Math is too cool sometimes.