Angles

Have you ever looked closely at the corner of your favorite book where the pages meet. Or maybe you have noticed the pointy tip of a pizza slice just before you take a big bite. I am there. I am in the space your front door makes when you swing it open to run outside. I am even a part of you. I am the bend in your elbow and the shape your arms make when you stretch them out wide to give a huge hug. I love hiding in plain sight, in all the corners and bends of the world, big and small. It is fun to be a little bit of a mystery, but I think it is time I introduced myself. Hi there. I am Angles. I am the special space you find whenever two lines meet at a point.

My story begins a long, long, long time ago. People discovered me because they needed me. In ancient Egypt, around the year 2500 BCE, people wanted to build gigantic, pointy buildings called pyramids. To make the sides straight and strong, they needed me to make their corners just right. A little while later, clever people in a place called Babylonia used me to help them map the stars in the night sky. They would measure the space between stars to figure out where they were. My biggest adventure from that time was in ancient Greece. Around the 3rd century BCE, I met a very smart man named Euclid. He thought I was so interesting that he wrote a whole book about me and my family of shapes. He even gave my different sizes special names. He called the little, sharp ones 'acute' angles. He called the big, wide ones 'obtuse' angles. And his favorite, the one that looks like the perfect corner of a square, he called a 'right' angle. Thanks to him, people everywhere could learn all about me.

Even though I am ancient, I am still super busy today. I am everywhere, helping people do amazing things. I help pilots figure out which way to fly their airplanes so they land safely. I help artists make their drawings look real by showing them how to draw corners on buildings and bends in roads. Architects who design cool skyscrapers and fun skate parks use me every single day to make sure their buildings are strong and the ramps are perfect for tricks. I am even inside your video games, telling the characters which way to turn and where to run. I am a secret helper that makes our world fit together just right. The next time you see a bend, a corner, or a turn, give me a little wave. That is me, Angles. I am always there, pointing the way to something new.