Packing Infinite Space
Many of these problems, when the container size is increased in all directions, become equivalent to the problem of packing objects as densely as possible in infinite Euclidean space. This problem is relevant to a number of scientific disciplines, and has received significant attention. The Kepler conjecture postulated an optimal solution for packing spheres hundreds of years before it was proven correct by Thomas Callister Hales. Many other shapes have received attention, including ellipsoids, Platonic and Archimedean solids including tetrahedra, and unequal-sphere dimers.
Read more about this topic: Packing Problem
Famous quotes containing the words packing, infinite and/or space:
“He had a wonderful talent for packing thought close, and rendering it portable.”
—Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859)
““. . . Me miserable! which way shall I fly
Infinite wrath and infinite despair?
Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell;
And, in the lowest deep, a lower deep
Still threat’ning to devour me opens wide,
To which the Hell I suffer seems a Heaven.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“And Space with gaunt grey eyes and her brother Time
Wheeling and whispering come,”
—James Elroy Flecker (1884–1919)