So you think YOUR boss is tough? - Printable Version +- Forums (https://eu-forums.com) +-- Forum: World Wide Talk (https://eu-forums.com/forum-12.html) +--- Forum: General Chat Forum (https://eu-forums.com/forum-7.html) +--- Thread: So you think YOUR boss is tough? (/thread-2159.html) |
So you think YOUR boss is tough? - Aeneas - 11-16-2008 From Fermat’s Last Theorem by Simon Singh: One story claims that a young student by the name of Hippasus was idly toying with the number √2, attempting to find the equivalent fraction. Eventually he came to realize that no such fraction existed, i.e. that √2 is an irrational number. Hippasus must have been overjoyed by his discovery, but his master was not. Pythagoras had defined the universe in terms of rational numbers, and the existence of irrational numbers brought his ideal into question. The consequence of Hippasus’ insight should have been a period of discussion and contemplation during which Pythagoras ought to have come to terms with this new source of numbers. However, Pythagoras was unwilling to accept that he was wrong, but at the same time he was unable to destroy Hippasus’ argument by the power of logic. To his eternal shame he sentenced Hippasus to death by drowning. Re: So you think YOUR boss is tough? - Benn - 11-17-2008 very good way to convince somebody about something. He should have been punished for that, but I'm sure he wasn't. Re: So you think YOUR boss is tough? - Aphrodite - 11-17-2008 Well,actually he was punished,although not for sentencing Hippasus to death. He died from hunger while on exile. Re: So you think YOUR boss is tough? - Aphrodite - 11-27-2008 Still no reply Aeneas? Ahh you're becoming so predictable! Re: So you think YOUR boss is tough? - Aeneas - 11-27-2008 I did.... Re: So you think YOUR boss is tough? - Aphrodite - 11-27-2008 :quoi Where? Re: So you think YOUR boss is tough? - Aeneas - 11-27-2008 On the other side of the Styx... it's all there. Re: So you think YOUR boss is tough? - Terry - 12-01-2008 Thank God my teacher didn't drown me when I once proved she was wrong about the number of continents. She said they are 7, I was telling her they are 6. But she took Europe and Asia as two different continents, actually it's only one - Eurasia. Re: So you think YOUR boss is tough? - Ivan - 01-13-2009 There are two other stories about Hippasus. The first says that Hippasus was expelled from the Pythagorean school because he published doctrines of Pythagoras, while the second says that he was drowned at sea for revealing the construction of the dodecahedron in the sphere and claiming it as his own. But since the Pythagoreans' supposed pledge to secrecy was most likely false, the authenticity of these stories is questioned. Re: So you think YOUR boss is tough? - Steven - 01-31-2009 Many historical things are under question, however one thing is certain - if you discovered something in the name of humanity, you have to pay for that... when one wins another loses. Re: So you think YOUR boss is tough? - Benn - 02-11-2009 could this be a modern mode of management that could be implemented in big companies? Imagine how productivity would increase if you are threatened to be drown hock: |