A new regular column by Justin Pollard begins by looking at a man who disliked being the world's greatest engineer so much that it killed him. ARCHIMEDES WAS one of the greatest engineers in the classical world but he would not have thanked you for saying so. Indeed, he managed to sum up the very best and worst attitudes towards the profession in a single man. He believed only pure mathematics really mattered and, thanks to his invention of the milometer and an unfortunate incident with a Roman, he paid for that belief with his life. This only goes to show that while pure theory might be a higher calling, it's a very poor form of self defence.
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