(I am very sorry to see that I have somehow burdened the list with TWO postings of my first message - Re:testing waters. I have often been accused of being repetitive, but I think that it usually not so literal.)
On 9-Jun-09, at 3:23 AM, Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx wrote:
Euclides is famous for having proved that the shortest distance between two points in space is always the straight line.Marius, the Epicurean, laughed. "Surely a donkey does not need the proof. He _knows_." Marius proved that a donkey, when shown a carrot, always walks in a straight line.--- The expression, bridge of asses remains to this day as a mark of Epicurean wit.
I would be very interested in hearing from Mr Speranza an explication of this famous proof, which seems to have been left out of my education!
In German, the term ESELSBRÜCKE seems not to share this curious etymology (which makes no reference whatsoever to a bridge). And the term 'Pons Asinorum' as I have learned it is applied in Euclidean geometry at some other point than this proof of the shortness of straight lines joining points (but as that seems to be strangely lacking in my education, perhaps this was left out as well). Could Mr Speranza please show us the sources for this interesting account?
Karl Trogge auf der Englische Planke in Hamburg -------------------------------------------------------------------- To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
