Circles have been around a very long time. The first one was probably drawn by someone doodling in the dirt who had no idea what he had created or the problems it would cause in various ways for future folks.
Of course, it also solved many problems which still affected people, especially young ones in school. Back in the day when Roman numerals ruled the world very few people wondered what the square root of DXIV was. The same number probably did not care what the result was when you multiplied DXIV times DXIV. Thus, math in high school was a snap. However, some Romans must have worked something out as they were great engineers.
However, things changed one day when a smart Arab looked at the circle and said, “hmm, that circle looks like it would make an excellent zero!” That was the beginning of Arabic numbers. It soon became apparent that this numbering system was much easier to use and it eventually took over the world of numbers. Not only could you find the square root of a number, but you could also easily multiply them. Thus, students had to worry about algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus and who knows what other horrors. This worry has been offset by how the use of math has made our life better. Hooray for the circle!
There are other circles like in Tarzan comic strips. In them there is frequently a huge lion circling a fair maiden. But at the last-minute Tarzan swoops in and lands on the lion’s back and stabs it to death. He would then pound his chest and give out with the great ape roar. I’ve always wondered what Jane thought about his saving all these fair maidens. Of course, she was back at the ranch circling their plantation on horseback to check on their land so she probably didn’t know.
Tarzan is fantasy, but other uses of circles are not. We have some great examples right here in The Villages. I refer to what are known as roundabouts. They are not necessarily a beloved part of The Villages, but they are there. We apparently inherited them from merry old England and possibly even New Jersey. The main difference is that the ones in England and New Jersey are much bigger. In other words, theirs is a very big doughnut and ours is a mini. The ones in England are easy to get on and off even when you are driving on the wrong side of the road. The ones in New Jersey near where we lived for a few years were also very big. One of their problems was that most of them were just grass and every so often a speeder would not circle, but rather go straight across the circle. Since the roundabouts were big, the speeder ended up somewhere inside the circle and spared hitting someone actually in the roundabout. There was one roundabout that had a restaurant on the circle right at the curb line. A speeder never hit it as I assume even, they could see a building in their way.
As to our roundabouts, I still recall going north on Buena Vista getting ready to enter the circle when I saw a gentleman on El Camino Real who had pulled up to the circle and he was looking out the window and could see where he wanted to go. Therefore, he wanted to make a left into the circle as that was obviously the quickest way. Unfortunately, cars kept him from doing that which was frustrating him. I never saw the result but he must have caught on at some point.
Roundabouts were created to move vehicles not cause crashes. We all need to remember that – and to use our turn signals even though I have seen folks who think that turn signals are for sissies.
You know, I graduated from high school many years ago. Since then I have never had to figure out the square root of a number.
Ah well, I guess it is all part of the Circle of Life!
Barry Evans is a columnist for Villages-News.com