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Title:  A Trisector Calls

Abstract:  An ancient problem in geometry calls for a straightedge-and-compass 
construction that will trisect (divide into three equal parts) any given angle.  
For over 150 years it has been known that there can be no exact solution to this 
problem. Nevertheless, any math professor especially one who has written on geometry 
will now and again receive mysterious and lengthy manuscripts from unknown 
correspondents, purporting to contain the sought-after construction.  What is it 
about this problem that is so infuriatingly attractive? And why is the construction 
mathematically impossible anyhow?

I’ll talk about the impossibility proof, approximate constructions, exact 
constructions that break the rules (using a marked ruler, for instance), and 
why the problem does and doesn’t matter in the first place.
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