Thoughts on Shapes

Throughout history, men have used their knowledge of shapes to help them design buildings. Because of the consistent way God holds things together, we can predict how different shapes will hold up under pressure. One shape that supports weight well is the arch. You can easily see this by holding a piece of paper flat between your hands and having someone push down gently in the center of the paper. You should notice the paper bends easily under the pressure. But if you bend the paper to form an arch, you’ll notice the paper does not bend as easily. An arch shape holds up better under pressure than a flat shape does. [1]

Knowing this quality about arches helps us in designing buildings and bridges, many of which have an arch shape! It also gives us new appreciation for the design in our feet. If you run your finger along the bottom of your foot, you will feel multiple arches on your foot! God, the master engineer, designed the shape of our feet to support our body’s weight. Our feet are truly marvels of engineering!

If the foot were flat and rigid, fixed at right angles to the bone of the leg, walking would be difficult or impossible. The elastic arches also serve as shock absorbers to soften the jar resulting from walking on a hard surface.

The human foot is a miniature suspension bridge which is much more complicated than an ordinary bridge. Would anyone say that the Golden Gate suspension bridge just happened? Of course not, if he were truthful! But why do people assume that the even more intricate mechanism of the human foot could have just happened without intelligent cause or the workmanship of a master Engineer? [Allen L. Gillen, Body by Design (Green Forest, AZ: Master Books, 2001), pp. 43-44.]

The point? Learning about shapes doesn’t have to be confined to a textbook! As you teach your child shapes, you can be teaching him about the shapes all around us–and seeing the Creator’s wisdom and care in how He chose just the right shape for everything.

[1] This experiment is based on one given in The Art of Construction. The book offers numerous experiments and information related to building. Mario Salvadori, The Art of Construction: Projects and Principles for Beginning Engineers and Architects, 3rd ed. (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1990). Originally published as Building: The Fight Against Gravity.