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The crucial dispute between Cartesians and Newtonians was over the shape of the Earth: Newton predicted an oblate ellipsoid, or flattened, Earth, while the Cartesians had predicted a prolate ellipsoid, or egg-shaped, Earth.

The embankments rose like the prolate rock formations in Chinese scroll paintings, massive looming shapes half lost to fog.

Texas, West Texas and Texas Tech surely reserve their foremost excitement for when the ball is a prolate spheroid.

The ball has its shape — a prolate spheroid — because that was the natural shape of the inflated pig bladder used to make the first football in the 19th century.

But the models predict that early in the universe, emerging galaxies were prolate—longer than they were wide, Faber says.