Tag: siracusa

Postcard from Siracusa, Sicily: Why everybody wants math nerd on their side

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Above: Monument commemorating a hometown hero, Archimedes

Certain things first became clear to me by a mechanical method, although they had to be demonstrated by geometry afterwards because their investigation by the said method did not furnish an actual demonstration. But it is of course easier, when we have previously acquired by the method, some knowledge of the questions, to supply the proof than it is to find it without any previous knowledge.”

Archimedes (About 287-211 BC)

Seriously? The above is an example of Archimedes-speak that is babble to me. Math is far from one of my languages – Greek to me. In fact, I would almost consider Archimedes an enemy – the Father of Mathematical Physics, the Father of Integral Calculus and the man who tortured himself long enough to figure out such seemingly unsolvable puzzles as Pi.

Except, a visit to Siracusa convinced me that in times of war, or peace, you definitely would want Archimedes with all his math and inventions on your side.

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Postcard from Siracusa, Sicily: Where Plato tested and failed tyrant-taming

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Above: Caves created by ancient Greek quarries, including the notorious Ear of Dionysius, line a bluff in the Archaeological Park of Neapolis

Long ago, Siracusa became an important outpost of the Grecian Empire. For strategic reasons, the ancient city first developed on the small island of Ortigia.

A major vestige of this are the ruins of the Temple of Apollo in the heart of the city adjacent to the island’s bustling outdoor market. Forty-two monolithic columns once framed the sixth-century-BC Doric temple dedicated to the sun god. These remnants of the temple incorporated into several private homes and 16th-century military barracks occupying the site were “rediscovered” in the 1890s.

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Postcard from Siracusa, Sicily: Water indeed creates a ‘strange island’

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Normally, I fail to designate states in my headlines and opt for the country alone. Poor identification in geo-political terms, but being proper would demand even more cumbersome headlines for my travel posts. In this case, I’m breaking with tradition and am ignoring Italy because Sicily seems almost another country.

Sicily hangs close to the toe of Italy’s boot as though a ball kicked off the mainland, floating amid the waters of the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas and the rest of the Mediterranean. Through the centuries, the island often fell under the rule of other powers than that of the mainland.

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