Some, for example, open them all day, while others expand them only in the evening. There are likewise noctiflorous plants, which close their flowers in the morning.

Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.

So in putting together this season’s big evening sales, which begin on Tuesday, Sotheby’s has been even more aggressive than usual, offering sellers supergenerous guarantees — undisclosed minimum prices paid to the sellers regardless of a sale’s outcome — that are in many cases higher than records for the artists.

Michael Jordan is one of many Tar Heel basketball standouts.