ABSTRACT
The sphere, so simple and yet so complex, is a paradox. A featureless, spinning sphere does not even appear to be rotating; all views remain the same. There is no top, front, or side view. All views look the same. The Dutch artist M. C. Escher (1898-1972) ably illustrated this truth in his 1935 lithograph where the artist holds a reflective sphere in his hand as he sits in his Rome studio.1 It’s easy to see that even if Escher were to rotate the sphere, the reflected image would not change. His centered eyes could never look elsewhere; the view of the artist and his studio would be unchanging. His sphere has no orientation, only a position in space.
