Turning Circle

A Jersey Giant rooster with glossy black plumage in a rumpled tan cotton jacket with elbow patches and a loosened navy knit tie, standing on a green leather blotter on an oak desk in a book-lined university office, a single yellow pencil beside him and blank sheets of paper and a mug nearby, a blackboard behind covered in faint erased chalk curves, morning light through tall windows

Chalk on the Cuffs

Four young mathematicians are honoured today, one for showing how little room a needle needs to turn all the way round. He spends the morning turning a pencil on his blotter and by noon has used most of the desk.

23 July 2026