The Clog from OzErnest Renan - Archimedes quote
May 5th 2006 00:02
The Archimedes screw, technology over 2000 years old.
“The simplest school boy is now familiar with truths for which Archimedes would have sacrificed his life.” - Ernest Renan
Ernest Renan was a French philosopher and writer who lived in the mid 1850’s. Here, he points out that a simple school boy is now aware of so much more facts and truths since Archimedes’ time, around 200BC. Archimedes was famous for his screw, the catapult, and defence mirrors to catch fire to ships. In Renan’s time, an immense amount of facts and discoveries would have been developed since Archimedes, such as Newtonian physics, the discovery of many chemical elements, smallpox vaccine and other medical discoveries.
Of course there have been thousands more discoveries since the 1850’s. Teenagers today study topics in year 12 physics that only postgraduates used to know of, or that great scientists of the past weren’t even aware of. World knowledge has been increasing at such a fast pace, hopefully it won’t be long before there are cures for current diseases and a design for the first Electric Blanket Mobile or Hamburger Earmuffs à la The Simpsons.
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