Cycloid Cycloid A cycloid is the curve traced by a point on the rim of a circular wheel as the wheel rolls along a straight line without slipping. A cycloid is a specific form of trochoid and is an example of a roulette, a curve generated by a curve rolling on another curve. The cycloid, with the cusps pointing upward, is the curve of fastest descent under constant gravity, and is also the form of a curve for which the period of an object in descent on the curve does not depend on the object's starting position. The cycloid has been
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel? version of the quotation as the heading (set in capital letters) for an editorial on 1 July 1967 about the "Redlands" court case, which had resulted in prison sentences for Rolling Stones members Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. The philosopher Mary Midgley used a variation on the phrase in an article in the journal "Philosophy" written to counter a review praising "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins, where she cuttingly said that she had "not attended to Dawkins, thinking it unnecessary to break a butterfly upon a wheel." The British rock band, The Mission, enjoyed a no. 12 hit in