Evening star., 1926-11-30

Three great tragedies of world his
tory were the death of Jesus, the
death Of Socrates and the death Of
Archimedes.
Jesus represented the spiritual,
Socrates the mental and Archimedes
the physical traits of mankind.
The death of Jesus of Nazareth
was transfigured by sublime consid-
erations, but the tragedies of Soc
rates of Athens and of Archimedes
of Syracuse remain naked in their
sorrow.
We believe that Jesus triumphed
over death, and by so doing showed
us the way to salvation. OF Soc
rates and Archimedes, however-the
one great thinker, and the other
the first pure scientist-we know only
that they died under cruel and un-
necessary circumstances.
If the men of Athens had not been
SO ignorant and so unappreciative! III
the Roman soldiers that finally took
Syracuse, after the art of Archimedes
had held them at bay, had only had
one iota of appreciation for power of
mind,
more than the for
mer, were deserving Of death. and
..e. .ia,. % ME. It, the one by
the cup of hemlock, self-adminiStered.
at the command of ignorance and
jealousy, the other by the swords Of
ignoramuses sacking city.
The simple narrative of their ends
has yet power to move the sensitive
to something approaching righteous
anger, mingled with sorrow; for an
ger and sorrow span the centuries,
If the cause be just.
Tucked away in Plutarch's life of
Marcellus, the Roman commander, is
contained perhaps the best account of
Archin1edes which we have. Here
scientist than the mere fact that he
said he could move the world if he
had another world to stand on.
We are apt to think today that men
have higher respect for the abstract
thinker than mankind did in the days
before Christ, but Archimedes was re-
spected, not only by his own great
city, but also by the harsh Roman
commander who finally captured
Syracuse.
Marcelus, to his eternal credit,
looked upon the soldiers who thought
lessly killed Archimedes as murderers,
having previously given orders
throughout the army that the old man
was on no account to be harmed.
1t is matter of regret that P1u-
tarch did not devote an entire life to
Archimedes. His plan involved ia.
nous commanders, and SO worthless OF
the arts and sciences entered his mar
ratives as side issues.
The passages devoted to a descrip-
ton of the curious machines with
which the Syracusans repulsed the
attempts of the Romans upon their
city, both by sea and land, form some
of the most interesting reading in the
parallel lives.
Marcellus himself, with 60 galleys,
assaulted the walls from the sea. He
had great bridge of planks laid upon
eight ships chained together, upon
which was carried the engine to cast
stones and darts.
"All which, however, was, it would
seem, but trif1es for Archimedes and
his machines" Plutarcb says. These
strange machines of ArchimedeS had
been designed as mere amusements in
geometry, Sin compliance with King
Hiero's desire and request, some little
time before, that he should reduce to
practice some part of his admirable
speculations in science, and by accom-
modating the theoretic truth to sensa-
ton and ordinary use bring it more
within the appreciation of people in
general
How that sentence brings Archi'
medes down to us.
Plato inveighed against the art of
mechanics, declaring that it annihi-