Today, you are a member of… The Space Ten
Base ten is the space ten this week, members. It’s October, a tenth month prefixed with the Latin word for eight; It’s a decahedron, an irregular, asymmetric ten-sided geometric solid that even Euclid couldn’t identify adequately; It’s “10”, a romantic comedy wherein Bo Derek and Dudley Moore do it. Sure, one can explain such oddities. 1) October’s origins lie in ancient Rome, a gladiator culture which, not needing a January or a February, just kicked off the year off with March, (so named for Mars, the god of war) making October the eighth month. 2) Like porn, polyhedra are hard to define, but you know one when you see one. 3) Dork appeal is stronger than one might think. So sure, this week’s got a lot of tweak, but it’s not without the logic of mathematical equality that posits .999… = 1.