Lawlor explains the problem of squaring the circle as follows:

"This is a practice which seeks, with only the usual compass and straight-edge, to construct a square which is virtually equal in perimeter to the circumference of a given circle, or which is virtually equal in area to the area of a given circle. Because the circle is an incommensurable figure based on pi, it is impossible to draw a square more than approximately equal to it. Nevertheless the Squaring of the Circle is of great importance to the geometer-cosmologist because for him the circle represents pure, unmanifest spirit-space, while the square represents the manifest and comprehensible world. When a near-equality is drawn between the circle and square, the infinite is able to express its dimensions or qualities through the finite" (Lawlor, p.74).