10 ms·
Gauss’s “Remarkable Theorem” and the best way to hold a pizza slice (2014)
- weeksie 7y agoIn New York we just fold 'em in half.
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- DonHopkins 7y agoThat's how the Pizza Rats carry them so far without losing all the toppings.
- dntbnmpls 7y agoMaybe for the first bite or two, but the best way hold a slice is to fold it almost in half or completely in half ( depending on your preference ) and eating it that way. This way you get the full width of the pizza in one bite. Only children and tourists hold pizza as shown in the article. Don't have a fancy formula for it, just a lifetime's experience of eating pizza slices.
- ComputerGuru 7y agoYou mean, taking the math and science described in intricate detail in this article to the next level, right? I fail to see how what you’re saying negates the article. In fact, there are several descriptions of folding as being the next step (see folded paper holding a can of beans).
- dntbnmpls 7y agoI just looked at the pictures. What they recommended. https://aatishb.com/images/2014/08/pizza-fold-hold.png https://aatishb.com/images/2014/08/pizza-fold-hold.png vs What I do. https://assets.bonappetit.com/photos/5a9dd665eb730726d6c7ec14/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/pizza-slice-full-fold.jpg https://assets.bonappetit.com/photos/5a9dd665eb730726d6c7ec1... If the article said to fold it in half, then we are in agreement. But the picture they provided didn't show that.
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- shawnz 7y agoThe article says to apply a curvature opposite to the direction it sags in. Whether it's a full 180 degrees or not doesn't matter, you get the effect with any amount of curvature. Actually, if you fold it totally flat then presumably you'd lose the curvature and it would sag again, so that seems unoptimal to me. Plus, how could you taste the toppings?
- jamessb 7y ago> Plus, how could you taste the toppings? How do you taste the filling in a sandwich?
- shawnz 7y agoFair point.
- dntbnmpls 7y ago> The article says to apply a curvature opposite to the direction it sags in. Yes, I know. > Actually, if you fold it totally flat then presumably you'd lose the curvature and it would sag again Only if the slice is large or top heavy with extra cheese/toppings. Then you'd get sag no matter what. When that happens you use the paper plate to hold your pizza and eat the edge coming off the plate. You slowly edge a bit of the pizza off the paper plate and once you've eaten enough of the pizza, it no longer sags and then you can directly grab the slice and eat it. > so that seems unoptimal to me. Have you eaten a slice in your life? > Plus, how could you taste the toppings? With your taste buds as you are chewing it?
- lonelappde 7y agoYour version hides the toppings from your tongue.
- cat199 7y ago> tourists assuming the insistence on folding to be a sign of nyc-ness, is your take on pizza so nyc-centric that it is a local cuisine of the tri-borough area?
- Asooka 7y agoI just use a knife and fork. Like a normal person.
- blisterpeanuts 7y agoI have found it doesn't taste as good that way.
- rq1 7y agoSuch an abomination!
- Jailbird 7y agoThat is decidedly abnormal in the NYC area. Eat as you wish, but you may find it more enjoyable our way!
- jjgreen 7y agoI have a friend whose (extremely cultivated) father eats bananas in this way.
- notRobot 7y agoBrilliant numberphile video on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi-TBlh44gY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi-TBlh44gY
- skibz 7y agoI'm definitely going to ask somebody to "please pass the hyperbolic paraboloids" the next time I have Pringles.
- fit2rule 7y agoI always fold and make it a pie in the hand. Better than cheese in the bush. ;)
- collyw 7y agoIf I worked this out by myself, can I be considered a mathematical genius?
- CPLX 7y agoAs a 20th century genius from Brooklyn I managed to figure this out independently while drunk and on the way to the subway.
- thaumasiotes 7y ago> The iconic shape for a nuclear power plant cooling tower also incorporates curvature in both directions. This shape, called a hyperboloid, minimizes the amount of material required to build it. What? This is completely meaningless. A hyperboloid shape minimizes the amount of material required to match what constraints? If the goal is to minimize the amount of material while reaching a certain height, you just want a pole. If the goal is to minimize material, full stop, just don't build the tower in the first place. What's the goal supposed to be?
- Hokusai 7y ago> This shape, called a hyperboloid, minimizes the amount of material required to build it I guess that to build it "for its required purpose" is implicit in the sentence. I agree, that the author could have gone into more detail of what are the requirements of cooling towers but that may be out of the scope of the article.
- labawi 7y agoThey presumably have a set of complex constraints on cooling towers. A hyperboloid fullfills them with less material than a cylinder.
- thaumasiotes 7y agoCongratulations, you've repeated my question exactly while saying absolutely nothing else. I strongly suspect that they're talking about an actual mathematical minimization result, such as how a sphere minimizes surface area for constant volume, and the journalist just didn't bother to understand what the claim was before repeating half of it.
- labawi 7y agoA two page interlude on cooling tower constraints including functional cooling capabilities, height vs. width tradeoffs, manufacturability, earthquake, sabotage, plane-crash resistance etc. would not improve the article.
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- 60654 7y agoBy the way, this "best way" is so not true for deep dish pizza. Good luck folding a slice of Giordano's! ;) But on the plus side, it has its own structural integrity that makes folding unnecessary :)
- justjonathan 7y ago+1 for Giordano's deep dish.
- ComputerGuru 7y agoGiordanos’s is alright, but once you have Pequod’s you never look back.
- 60654 7y agoAlso: Labriola on the mag mile.
- cat199 7y ago.. this article is clearly bent in the direction of nyc pizza
- stephenr 7y agoThat’s because what you’re calling pizza is in fact an eggless, tomato and cheese quiche.
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- burlesona 7y agoThis was a surprisingly good and entertaining read, about much more than just pizza slices. The title doesn’t do it justice, IMO :) The example of the folded paper holding the can of beans really drove the whole thing home for me.
- dreamer7 7y agoAgreed. I almost skipped the article due to the start. I'm glad I didn't. Now I'm seeing all the curved surfaces around me that were hiding in plain sight.
- tr0nd0ugh 7y agoThis is the internet we live in - clickbait-y titles get clicks, not "Theorema Egregium, the strength in curved surfaces", or whatever.
- dang 7y agoOk, we've put Gauss in there to beef up the title above.
- hmd_imputer 7y agohmm, I don't think you need to be a math genius to develop an intuitive feeling for it.
- ComputerGuru 7y agoNo, not at all. But to provide a mathematical basis and proof that can then be extended to all walks of life?
- amjd 7y agoThe same concept applies in the human foot in the form of three arches that allow us to walk and run. I recently read an article about the role of the tranverse arch on HN, but can't find the link. Here are two others that talk about the same thing: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00472-z https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00472-z https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/02/why-human-feet-evolved-arches-what-happens-if-you-lack-them/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/02/why-human...
- mrkramer 7y agoI figured this out long time ago. Bending a pizza slice helps because top of the pizza slice doesn't fall down.
- axaxs 7y agoWhat's with all the "I figured this out by myself..." comments? The article says as much, that people figure this out themselves. It's just giving some insight into why that works...
- mcnamaratw 7y agoI think the message is that we're all as smart as Gauss.
- ninjinxo 7y agoThis 19th century math genius taught us how to add the numbers from 1 to 100
- mcnamaratw 7y ago1 weird trick adds numbers from 1 to 100. Math teachers hate him!
- verroq 7y agoBecause the title is clickbait. The article is interesting but it’s not about pizza.
- kiliantics 7y agoa friend helped create this video on the same topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGl3_92KW7I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGl3_92KW7I
- ani-ani 7y ago"To crack an egg open, you first need to dent it. When the egg loses its curvature, it loses its strength." I felt like this part could use some fleshing out. I'm pretty sure that the egg does not lose its strength because it "loses its curvature", tough I must admit I'd be hard pressed to provide a more precise explanation. I would say it has more to do with the "hand wrap" spreading out the force over a wide area, so that the egg's curvature causes the hand's force to work against itself. But a small discontinuity creates a focus point where the force will be localized, causing successively more breakage in the shell.
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- mcnamaratw 7y agoThe article is accurate. A piece of paper can bend without tearing. An eggshell can't. The difference is the shape. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaussian_curvature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaussian_curvature
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- regularfry 7y agoIncorrect. It is mathematically satisfying, but inefficient. The best way to hold a pizza slice is with another one on top, sandwiching the topping, so you get a double thickness with the base on the outside so you don't get tomato on your hands.
- stephenr 7y ago... why are your hands touching the top of the pizza?
- vlod 7y agoMeh this is obvious. In NY, if you DON'T do this, you get the Niagara Falls of pizza-goop straight onto your lap.
- longtimegoogler 7y agoIt doesn't always work in my experience. The problem is as you get near the tip of the pizza sometimes it is too narrow to curve and since the line across the pizza is now flat the front drops down.
- gotoeleven 7y agoThat may be how a math genius holds their pizza, but a Real Stable Genius holds it backwards and eats the crust first.
- ubasu 7y agoIt's not about curvature, it's moment of inertia that stops it from bending, see: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8275112 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8275112
- bch 7y agoAllow Cliff Stoll to dine, educate and entertain you - https://youtu.be/gi-TBlh44gY https://youtu.be/gi-TBlh44gY
- credit_guy 7y agoIf anyone is curious, here's Gauss's book [1] that contains the theorem. It is in Latin (Gauss published only in Latin), and you can find it at the bottom of page 24. And here's the English translation [2]. The theorem is on page 20. [1] https://books.google.com/books?id=bX0AAAAAMAAJ https://books.google.com/books?id=bX0AAAAAMAAJ [2] https://books.google.com/books?id=a1wTJR3kHwUC https://books.google.com/books?id=a1wTJR3kHwUC