After the S-shape curve of the country from north to south, Artisans of Leisure's private, custom Vietnam for Foodies tours take in cultural and gustatory attractions along the way.
Retail, historically a sleepy industry that has lagged the productivity curve, was basically slapped into shape during Wal-Mart's march to dominance in the 1980s.
The first bent trumpets were in the shape of a flattened S-curve, but they were soon made obsolete by trumpets whose tubing was fashioned into an elongated oval coil.
Or the odd shape of the oil-futures price curve, which suggests the market thinks the price could spike later this year, then fall and return to today's prices by 2012.
Kent can look up actual crashes to plot the so-called crash pulse (the shape of a car's deceleration curve) and the places where a body made contact with the vehicle.