Aug 26 My Mint mathematics column last Friday was about the ancient Antikythera mechanism, found in a shipwreck off a tiny Greek island. (Genius at the bottom of the sea, https://www.livemint.com/opinion/columns/genius-at-the-bottom-of-the-sea-11629392600599.html )
The shipwreck is from somewhere around 75 BCE. So the mechanism is sometimes called mankind's first computer. In the column, I mentioned the first scientist to closely examine the mechanism, a historian at Yale University called David de Solla Price. Yesterday, I got a new follower on Twitter, someone called Carol de Solla Atkin. Most intrigued, I wrote to her: "All right, so I have to ask, two names like that in a matter of days can't be a coincidence! - What's the connection to Derek de Solla Price?" She wrote back: "Hi Dilip. Your article was very-well written. Derek was my father’s cousin. I’m very proud to be related to this obviously, supremely-intelligent scientist. I’d love to know how you first heard of him." Such are the small joys of writing! cheers, dilip -- My book with Joy Ma: "The Deoliwallahs" Twitter: @DeathEndsFun Death Ends Fun: http://dcubed.blogspot.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Dilip's essays" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dilips-essays/CAEiMe8o2qckN0KO376tfc5WFOFUnXbZdk6_Km1zyiSgLrMZ6jg%40mail.gmail.com.
