So, who spotted the deliberate error in my assertion yesterday that a rectangle with specific dimensions could mimic the line of sight rule on a C&C board? Yes, I can exclusively reveal that it was in fact bollocks. Having revisited my 'proof' it has become apparent that it is only true in the special circumstances where 2=1; which it currently doesn't - not even for large values of 1. Obviously I like to keep an open mind so it's just possible that at some point in the future things may change in the one equals two situation, but until then I advise against rushing off and drawing the grid that I recommended.
It may be that some of you who, only knowing me through the blog, associate me primarily with the Geisteswissenschaften and are wondering what I am doing dabbling in the higher mathematics. Actually my first degree was in Mathematical Sciences, although presumably they'll now be wanting it back. In any event I should have accompanied yesterday's posting with the warning that "In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is.". Incidentally I have seen that quote attributed to everyone from Karl Marx to Einstein to Yogi Berra, but it was almost certainly the somewhat less famous Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut.
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| A chap with a beard |
So what of the original problem? Well my current theory (stop sniggering at the back) is that one should start at the mid point of the side of the square from which one is firing and take the line between that and the centre of the target space as that on which line of sight is determined.
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