The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-15 00:00:00

UNAPPRECIATED GENIUS.

(Professor De Morgan in the Atheneum.)
bona
aasntye fl_
their Of the class of discoverers who square the circle, upset
Newton, Sec., I Suspect I know more than any man in
Britain. I never kept any reckoning ; but I know that one
v
with another—and less of late years than in earlier
times.-I have talked to more than five in each year, giving
more than 150 specimens.
rair .
Of this I am sure, that it is my
own fault if they have not been 100. Nobody knows how
they swarm'
except those to whom they naturally resort.
They are in all ranks and occupations, of all ages and char-
acters. They are very earnest people, and their purpose is
de the dissemination of their paradoxes. A great
the mass indeed—are illiterate, and a great many
vi
means, and are in or approaching penury. Bat
I must say that never, in any one instance, has the quadra-
ture of the circle, or the like, been made a pretext for
begging;
even to be asked to purchase a book is of rare oc-
currence. These discoverers despise one another; if there
were the concerts among them which there is among
foreign
mendicants, a man who admitted one to a con-
ference
to would be plagued to death. I once gave some-
ha very genteel French applicant, who overtook
me in the street, at my own door, saying he had picked
t
introduction, I know not. But that day
up
my handkerchief ; whether he picked it up in my
introduction,
Frenchman to my house, and that
PmdQ:aeocyerilefeottrirbgelhet. a
The same thing happened with Poles. It is
not so with ir they know nothing of each
ether. Some
will read this list, and will say I am right
enough,
generally speaking, but that there is an exception,
cde-squarers, eee.;
mye
2cionhfaeurssiao,ntoohf
hold
accessible to personal explanation of new
if I coulcilubviuttr:lith.
alvdeosinnonterad
against the
th
manner
the contrary : I consider myself as having male
and being discharged from further attendance on
I will not, from henceforward, talk to any
pl myself
yy lane.sre el pf
oQ rnt outes
circle, trisector of the angle, duplicator of the
squarerte !eu eb
escto subject.azoisficonstructor
ttrll:ctor of perpetual motion, subverter of gravita-
tion,ator of the earth, builder of the universe, &c. 1
writings or books which require no answer,
Nvillrececrtehauez
when I please : I will certainly preserve
and read
future time. There
them ;
and the infallible way of winning at
this list maybeenllarged at some
are three subjects which have hardly anything upon—as-
hrasevcebncuieviseuireared to preserve astrology. The me-
i:sake models, and not books. The infallible win-
ners—though .g yi
have seen a few—think their secret too
valuable, and prefer gnutare quad, ata rotundis_to turn dice
a gaming-house; verily they have their re -
into
into coin—at
enheLn—isttshough I
I shall now select, to the mystic number seven, in..
ward.
stances of mypersonal knowledge of those who think they
have discovered, in illustration of as many misconceptions,
1. Attempt by help of the old philosophy, the discoverer
not being
in possession of modern knowledge.—A poor
whom I was talking, and announced that he had
fsouhtioodest schoolmaster
eicnomrapgossi introduced himself to a scientific
friendc lm
with
composition of the sun. " How was that
done r
Of course, fire, air, earth, and water."—Did
you not know that air, earth, and water have long been
known to be no elements at all
1 By consideration of the four elements."—"What
are they
:
all, but compounds ?"-.4‘ What
that difficulties are enigmas, to be over-
c come do you mean, sir ? Who ever heard of such a thing ?"
2
a lucky thought.—A nobleman of
v
dead, read an article by me on the
quadur
an early number of the Penny Magazine. He
rtirEen now °w by
long
had,
ry. h
d. , e
Ili
high
suppose,school recollections of geometry. He put
pencil a
to paper,
drew a circle, and constructed what seemed
rt
likely to answer, and, indeed,
was—
as he said—certain, if
only this bit were equal to that;
He forwarded his diagram to the Secretary of the Diffusion
Society, to be handed to the author of the article, in case
the difficulty should happen to be therein overcome.
3
an officer of rank, just home from foreign
for a decoration from the Crown,
service, and trying
found that his claims were of doubtful amount, and was
i Discovery
yearsscover: at all hazards, to get on in the world.—
Thirty go,
told by a friend that so and so, who had got the order, had
the additional claim of scientific distinction. Now this offi-
cer, while abroad, had bethougnt himself one day that there
really could be nod ifficulty in finding the circumference of
a circle ; if a circle were rolled upon a straight line until the
undermost point came undermost again, there would be the
straight line, equal to the circle. He came to me, saying
that he did not feel equal to the statement of his claim in
this respect, but that if some clever fellow
would put the
in a proper light, he thought his affair might beman-
tatiendg. I was clever enough to put the thing in a proper light
to himself, to this extent at least, that though perhaps they
were wrong, the advisers of the Crown would never put the
letters K.C.B. to such a circle as his.
4. The notion that mathematicians cannot find the circle
purposes.—A working man measured the alti-
tude cylinder accurately, and—l think the process of
forAr
Archimedes of a common
himedes was one of his proceedings—found its bulk.
He then calculated the ratio of the circumference to the
diameter, and found it answered very well on other modes
of trial. His result was about 3'14. He came to London,
and somebody sent him to me. 1 happened to have on the
table a proof-sheet of the Astronomical Memoirs, in which
were a large number of observed places of the planets com-
pared with prediction, and asked him whether it could be
possible that persons who did not know the circle better
than he had found it could make the calculations, of which
I gave him a notion, so accurately. He was perfectly
astonished, and took the titles of some books which he said
he would read.

5. Application for the reward from abroad.—Many years
ago, about 28, I think, a Jesuit came from South America,
with a quadrature, and a cutting from a newspaper, an-
nouncing that a reward was ready for the discovery in Eng-
land. On this evidence he came over. After satisfying
him that nothing had ever been offered here, I discussed his
quadrature, which was of no use. I succeeded better when
I told him of Richard White, also a Jesuit, and author of a
quadrature published before 1648, under the name of " Chry.
smspis," of which I can give no account, having never
seen it. This White (Albius) is the only quadrator who
was ever convinced of his error. My Jesuit was struck by
the instance, and promised to read more geometry—he was
no Clavius before he published his book. He relapsed,
however, for I saw his book advertised in a few days. I
may say, as sufficient proof of my being no collector, that I
had not the curiosity to buy this book ; and my friend the
Jesuit did not send me a copy,which he ought to have done,
after the hour I had given him.
6. Application for the reward at home.—An agricultural
labourer squared the circle, and brought the proceedswhich to
tho copy London.
ip
alleged t o
hae
aolneffdfet letterr
o hisov
over
ep thefwaoparert rdhLs.wowiirtihd h
returned C4rahi,aenceenlleore,fdesirin was
000 h, OiOs Q,
papers, th o
wimgotuhii:t
nol°fordttehb,heatating that he had not the knowledge requisite to see
in what the problem consisted. I got for answer a letter in
which I was told that a person
hohisco4ld zlg
had done the thing should "changew business,t eeo t
anlitda:ahpe-
ailid attention toSundayi
;ap-
propriate iha
et e his time
and keep the Title a
could,children from
to le
arn
what dulre z
their close."
I also recived a letter from a friend of the
quadrator, informing me that I knew his friend had sue-
Oeeded,and hEVA been b.oard to say so. These letters were