tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1918995924244969903.post1621903234021233676..comments2024-03-25T08:41:57.698+13:00Comments on Kiwi Hellenist: Did Roman engineers stand under bridges?Peter Gainsfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17448862214081111386noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1918995924244969903.post-75874331983050646512023-01-09T11:51:19.225+13:002023-01-09T11:51:19.225+13:00yerpyerpAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1918995924244969903.post-18682750018951199092022-12-21T15:49:36.298+13:002022-12-21T15:49:36.298+13:00Heard the anecdote even earlier in my childhood an...Heard the anecdote even earlier in my childhood and my Dad was an architect.MLShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12715726421704315773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1918995924244969903.post-44186621327214094812021-07-31T14:07:06.356+12:002021-07-31T14:07:06.356+12:00Regardless of the truthiness of Nassim Taleb's...Regardless of the truthiness of Nassim Taleb's historical research, the principle that justifies his idea (re: the relationship between the verification of bridges/financial systems and their designers/architects) is better outlined in the entirety of his book "Skin in the Game" moreso than in "Antifragile".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1918995924244969903.post-45495205400437612052020-05-20T11:44:07.619+12:002020-05-20T11:44:07.619+12:00Oh that is interesting, thank you. Maybe with a bi...Oh that is interesting, thank you. Maybe with a bit more digging around one of us can turn up some written source: I hadn't looked as far back as the 1970s. Until you told me this, I hadn't dreamed that the story might be anything like so long-lived!Peter Gainsfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448862214081111386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1918995924244969903.post-46520667447603300152020-05-19T06:53:10.778+12:002020-05-19T06:53:10.778+12:00As a point of information, I first heard the story...As a point of information, I first heard the story about Roman arches (not bridges) in 1974 in Colorado Springs, CO in the USA. John Silber, later president of Boston University, gave an address entitled "The Tremble Factor". The title of the talk alluded to fear as a motivation for doing work well, and was based on the story of the Roman engineers. Silber claimed it was a true story glooniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17727522146874136301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1918995924244969903.post-44605242432348462312020-03-14T14:56:36.957+13:002020-03-14T14:56:36.957+13:00I'm uncomfortable with your comment about &quo...I'm uncomfortable with your comment about "the exception proving the rule" (in the sense of testing the rule). My understanding is that this English phrase actually derives from an ancient legal maxim ("exceptio probat [or (con)firmat] regulam in casibus non exceptis")—see the last section of <a href="https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/731/Allen Gainsfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09939183896823345130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1918995924244969903.post-65394554918869494522020-02-22T08:42:56.663+13:002020-02-22T08:42:56.663+13:00I liked the Ada reference. Did you know that class...I liked the Ada reference. Did you know that classicists make the best programmers? Well, my evidence base is shallow, to be sure. Back in the late ‘eighties, my engineering company had difficulty recruiting software engineers from among science graduates and so conducted an experiment: they recruited arts graduates and put them on a three-month induction programme during which they had to learn Valda Redfernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1918995924244969903.post-48697010217811839682020-02-20T09:11:23.796+13:002020-02-20T09:11:23.796+13:00I did puzzle over how anyone thought that idea wou...I did puzzle over how anyone thought that idea would work out. I haven't spotted anyone other than Stephen Fry thinking about that problem!Peter Gainsfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448862214081111386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1918995924244969903.post-43784477601867039792020-02-17T14:23:49.694+13:002020-02-17T14:23:49.694+13:00There's also, of course, the obvious problem y...There's also, of course, the obvious problem you mentioned that Roman bridges are usually built over water.Spencer McDanielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14784602880680601679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1918995924244969903.post-63204673026992956452020-02-17T14:07:36.444+13:002020-02-17T14:07:36.444+13:00I had not heard this one before! It strongly remin...I had not heard this one before! It strongly reminds me of the popular myth that (supposedly) spiral staircases in medieval castles were always built clockwise so that right-handed defenders at the top of the staircase would have more room to draw and swing their swords. They're both myths about architecture that have both probably been promoted primarily by tour guides and, in both cases, ifSpencer McDanielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14784602880680601679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1918995924244969903.post-50263807135622514822020-02-17T02:43:42.361+13:002020-02-17T02:43:42.361+13:00It is highly inaccurate to say that Prof Taleb was...It is highly inaccurate to say that Prof Taleb was angry because Mary Beard said it was racial purity. It was because she treated all Meds as Africans which he found to be racist.<br /><br />https://medium.com/east-med-project-history-philology-and-genetics/the-insidious-racism-of-mary-beard-et-al-8b6b768b4575Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com