Changes

The shortest distance between two points on a sphere is a path which follows a great circle.  This is why flights from New York to China, instead of going straight east, fly along a great circle, taking them nearly over the North Pole!  Because of this length-minimizing property, great circles are called [[Differential geometry|geodesics]].

The shortest distance between two points on a sphere is a path which follows a great circle.  This is why flights from New York to China, instead of going straight east, fly along a great circle, taking them nearly over the North Pole!  Because of this length-minimizing property, great circles are called [[Differential geometry|geodesics]].