Mathematics can be scary to the uninitiated. Especially if you are a pigeon residing on or near the new Mathematical Building in Oxford. The ubiquitous birds are no doubt thrilled at the additional accommodation we are building for them. However, their luck has run out courtesy of Nobby the Hawk and his handler Steve Mazey.
Nobby is a polymath, part athlete, part mathematician. His job is to set up a no-fly zone around the building into which the pigeons dare not venture. Steve determines the general flight pattern that Nobby will keep on until he spots a pigeon. At that point, Nobby will enter into hunting mode. Hawks like Nobby are known to have a particular strategy. He keeps his head straight and fixed for hydrodynamic stability while always keeping an eye on his prey. His method is to keep the image of the pigeon at the most sensitive part of his retina which means that his line of sight remains at a constant angle with his tangent line. The mathematical curve that satisfies this condition is an equiangular spiral (also known as spira mirabilis or logarithmic spiral) and Nobby will follow that spiral path until he is close enough to his prey.
This curve occurs across nature, for example in mollusk shells and even in the Milky Way. Nobby may not know it but he is Marvellous Mathematics in the flesh.