klein bottle

[cellio]

For his birthday I bought Dani a klein bottle. It was a definite hit. :-) The documentation it came with was well-done, too -- definitely as entertaining as the bottle itself. (Why yes, of course I read the paperwork and carefully inspected the bottle before wrapping it up for him. :-) )

The web site is lots of fun too. Be sure to check out the spin-off products, like the "cutting edge jigsaw puzzles".

Dani hasn't said yet whether he's going to apply the calibration decal it came with. You know -- 0, 0, 0, 0... :-)

(If you don't know what I'm talking about, see this explanation from their web site.)

Comments

[ironangel]

that's fabulous!

[magid.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's excellent!

[nsingman.livejournal.com]

Cool!! I really should get one. It's something every mathematician ought to have. :-)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

sethg_prime and lucretia_borgia got me one for my birthday a number of years ago. I love it; it makes a wonderful conversation piece.

[psu-jedi.livejournal.com]

Cary got one for his Dad for Hanukkah this past year! When he first told me about them a few years back, I had no clue what he was talking about. Then he showed me, and I found them very cool indeed!

Be careful

[(Anonymous)]

Fourth-dimensional accidents can be tragic.

A mathematician confided
That a Mobius band is one-sided.
He said "You'll get quite a laugh
If you cut one in half
For it stays in one piece when divided!"

A mathematician named Klein
Thought the Mobius band was divine.
He said "If you glue
The edges of two
You'll get a weird bottle like mine!"

[alice-curiouser.livejournal.com]

It would be wrong to point out what a righteous bong could be made with one of those, huh?

[madfilkentist]

Could you make a habitrail of one? :)

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

And the fellow who makes them is Cliff Stohl, of "The Cuckoo's Egg" fame!

yay!

[sethcohen.livejournal.com]

I knew about ACME Klein bottle, but I didn't know that Cliff Stoll was the proprietor. Excellent!

[jducoeur]

Oooh -- I've been there before, but I've never seen the Tantalus Cup before. I may have to get one of these. I love the quote:

"Don't confuse these with cheap dribble-glasses. Nope, these are expensive dribble glasses, made from genuine borosilicate glass with *real* silicon atoms."

[cellio]

It's something every mathematician ought to have. :-)

You bet!

Re: Be careful

[cellio]

Fourth-dimensional accidents can be tragic.

They sure can. That's probably why the order form asked me to specify the number of dimensions in my universe (really!), and why it came with certain disclaimers.

[cellio]

I suppose some would consider it wrong, were someone to suggest such a thing.

[cellio]

*laugh* Yeah, good thing they were all Walters and no Wilmas. :-)

[cellio]

Oh yes, I love the mug with the siphon hidden in the handle. I should have picked one up while I was ordering anyway; I'm sure it would come in handy someday. :-)

[alice-curiouser.livejournal.com]

Oh, okay. I won't, then. ;)

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

They look the same in their photos and have the same address. . .