The Pea and the Sun: A Mathematical Paradox

Wapner (mathematics, El Camino College, California) explains to general readers the Banach-Tarski Theorem, or Paradox, which shows how to disassemble a sphere and rearrange the pieces into another solid of any specified shape and volume: thus a pea could be taken apart and reassembled as the sun. He discusses its precursors and history, proof and resolution, and implications for the nature of mathematics and its relation to the physical world.