By Sivapriya Mothilal Bhagavathy — R&D Leader, Mum, and Occasional Confused Reader
I started Shape thinking: “Right, this is about geometry. Probably boring.”
Then I was halfway through and thought: “Wait… is this about Covid? And politics? And why my teenage daughter’s art looks like a fractal?”
By chapter four, I was genuinely lost.
The book was hopping from Fibonacci to famine, from voting systems to viral spread — like a very clever, slightly chaotic squirrel on a caffeine high.
I nearly put it down.
Then I thought: “Maybe I’m missing the point.”
So I carried on.
And then — boom — it clicked.
You prove one thing… and suddenly, the world gets bigger.
It wasn’t a single idea. It was a pattern.
One truth opens a door. Then another. Then another.
And before you know it, you’re standing in a whole new landscape — full of questions, wonder, and the occasional crooked Fibonacci spiral.
Here’s what I’m taking from it — not from grand projects, but from thinking differently:
- All hype isn’t true. Be a bit sceptical.
Just because it looks elegant doesn’t mean it’s right. (Cough, revolutionary energy tech.) - Maths is hard. Let’s admit it.
If we pretend it’s easy, students won’t ask questions. And if they don’t ask, they’re not learning.
So: “This is tricky. Let’s figure it out.”
(Even if I’m still figuring it out myself.) - Fibonacci wasn’t the first. And we’re still reinventing wheels.
The sequence was known in India centuries before Fibonacci. Now? We’re doing the same thing with clean tech — in labs across the globe.
Is that progress? Or just a very expensive game of “Who’s got the same idea?” - If you’ve never guessed wrong, you’re not guessing hard enough.
I’m going to try to be wrong more often.
(Even if it means my energy model fails spectacularly. Progress!) - I don’t want AI to give answers — I want it to ask better questions.
“Why are we assuming the grid is centralised?”
“What if people don’t want to change?”
Now that’s the kind of thinking that moves mountains. - Even Nobel winners can be petty.
Ronald Ross spent years grumbling about recognition — and honestly? I get it.
But the real win? The work. The curiosity. The trying.
So keep going. Even if no one’s watching.
Final thought:
Shape didn’t change my projects — not yet.
But it changed how I think.
And that’s the best kind of shift: quiet, slow, and full of potential.
So if you’re into maths, meaning, or just want to feel slightly more human while sipping tea — go read it.
Just don’t expect it to be easy.
(And if it is? You’re probably missing the point.)
Until next time,
Priya
📍 R&D Leader, Mum, and Future-Thinker-in-Training