M!

Mark Ismay

Sake bottle

While out for an early morning coffee yesterday, I noticed something unexpected by the self-serve water counter. The drainage system beneath the grate for spilt water led to an oversized sake bottle.

Lateral thinking.

This effectively solves the drainage problem with a minimum of plumbing and also creates a decorative point of interest.

Gauss

The way I have taken seems not to lead to the goal, but much rather to make the truth of geometry doubtful.

I come across this Gauss quote in a presentation on non-Euclidean geometry. It likely comes from the correspondence between Gauss and the Hungarian mathematician Bolyai in 1799, although this more explicit version lacks the implied intent that I misrepresent from the original quote.

This is a reminder to myself to always remain foolish in my endeavours. I believe that certainty often comes at the price of creativity, and that's a bad trade. In the past, I have lauded the contrarians but perhaps it is the foolhardy that deserve my praise as antipodal views are often just as inflexible as their opposition.