About

This post is not about me but about this blog. The reason I started this personal blog is in the title which I have based on a story from the life of Euclid of Alexandria. A Greek by origin, he is best known as the author of one of the greatest mathematical textbooks in history, The Elements. The story goes that during one of his lectures the following happened:

A youth who had begun to read geometry with Euclid, when he had learnt the first proposition, inquired, “What do I get by learning these things?” So Euclid called a slave and said “Give him threepence, since he must make a gain out of what he learns." - Stobaeus, Extracts

Although I understand Euclid’s argument I sympathise with the unknown youth more. To pursue science simply to advance scientific knowledge has its place but so does the scientific pursuit that directly benefits us. I am the unknown man in Euclid’s story and with this blog I aim to find the gain from knowledge in any shape or form.

So why is the blog not called Man with the threepence? Because I remembered the story wrong, thinking that Euclid ordered to give the man a broom (this is where you shake your head). Either way, hope you enjoy reading Man with the Broom.