A GREAT CIRCLE is
the largest circle which can be drawn on a sphere. It goes around the
girth like the Earth's equator.
RANDOM sizes of smaller
circles which do not overlap can be placed on a sphere in an infinite
number of ways.
IDENTICALLY sized
small circles which do not overlap can be placed on a sphere in many symmetrical
arrangements. Regardless of the size of the circles, they lie with their
edges all at the same distance from their sphere's center.
Within this geometry
there are many ways that these spherical skeletons can join with one another
to generate patterns of three-dimensional, space-filling order.
With all of its endless
combinations, this circle-on-sphere geometry makes up the general form
of Snelson's model of the atom.
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