UNDERCOVER on the TITANIC (book 1)

Part 16 - Möbius strip

There was a long silence until Professor Smolkin tossed a tennis ball into the air, then there were whispers of, 'Tennis ball . . . sphere . . . globe.'

'Good,   right,   excellent.   But now to a most intriguing object called a Möbius strip after the mathematician who discovered it.   It is the strange device everyone, except Cliff Boswell, is holding in their hands.'

'Notice that the loop with the half twist has only one face and one edge and no corners. '

'And also notice that the hole in the middle goes from one place on the surface to (he swept his arms in the air dramatically) to another place on the same surface.'

'Now, you can cut it in half . . . Along the length, Cliff Boswell, not across the width.'

There was a rustle of paper and a snipping of scissors as we raced to complete the project. And then a murmur of surprise as everyone, except Cliff Boswell, found themselves holding a single loop twice the size. Cliff Boswell was wearing a silly grin and holding a single strip of paper.

'Now, cut the second loop, the one with the full twist . . . and you will notice that it has two faces and two edges.' Another clatter of scissors and a few gasps of surprise and we were holding two interlinked loops.

'Okay,' Professor Smolkin chuckled. 'Now, if you like taking chances, try this at home. Twist the strip more than one full twist and see what happens. Let me know if you find yourself transported from one surface on the space-time continuum to anotherrrrr. '

As Professor Smolkin turned toward the blackboard at the front of the class, Cliff Boswell ran silently up behind Licia and dropped a small black lizard onto her desk. She scooped it up, as it skittered across her note pad, emitted a sarcastic, 'Eew! Gross,' in a bored tone and handed it to the boy sitting behind her, who quickly slipped it into a shoe box at his feet. 

'Now I want you to answer these geometrical questions from the book.' Professor Smolkin indicated the numbers on the board. 'There are no marks for speed. I want accuracy. Okay? If you don't finish the questions in class, you can finish them for homework.' He looked at his watch. 'Ready? Go.'

Professor Smolkin bounced over to me. 'Okay, er, Ziff, here's the textbook.' He gave me a book that must have weighed about ten kilograms. I hoped the straps on my old backpack would take the strain. 'The first rule of arithmetic is - never forget your textbook. I am currently out of test forms - that's the second rule - but I'll try to get one to you later.'

A large student, with dark skin and a mop of curly black hair, turned in his seat and grinned at me. 'I got an extra copy, Professor. Ziff can have one of these.' 

We worked in silence for the rest of the lesson, interrupted only by occasional exclamations of frustration. The questions were easy so I made a few deliberate errors. If I were perfect, the teachers got excited and other students resented the attention I got, which created animosity and occasional violence. When the bell rang, there was a general stampede to the door. I waited. I wasn't in a hurry to leave. I didn't know anyone and still felt a little angry. All my friends were in Toronto.

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