ABSTRACT
Fitting a ‘square peg in a round hole’ or ‘squaring the circle’ idiomatically expresses the concept of a misfit or impossibility. Mathematicians since Archimedes have attempted to fit squares into circles in an attempt to calculate π, only to find that the exact number cannot be calculated – π is transcendental and irrational. Nonetheless, it is mathematically possible to fit a square peg in a round hole, provided the diagonal of the peg is less than the diameter of the hole, and also possible, as powerfully illustrated in the story of Apollo 13, where square lithium hydroxide canisters from the command module would not fit the round openings in the lunar module environmental system, to fit a ‘square peg in a round hole’ with flexible and interdependent thinking … and duct tape.
