Nothing New Under the Sun?
Don't Bet On It!

I've got a great new building project and I want to do it myself. Now normally a do-it-yourself wannabe like me can usually draw inspiration for 'the next big project' by driving around and seeing how the neighbours did it in years or months past. Not this time. This mega-project inspires the Trump phrase 'go big or go home'.

So on what great human undertakings of the past shall I draw my muse? Why none other than the Millau Bridge of course. This colossal bridge, the tallest in the world runs through southern France over the River Tarne which snakes through the Massif mountain chain. It is truly an example of engineering genius and marries the best of hard science with sculpture. As I watched the TV presentation which chronicled the entire building process (complete with that medium's addiction to the phony suspense narration before every break that suggested 'because of BLANK the bridge may not be completed ...broadcasted three years after the fact) I was struck with one incredible detail of the construction. It was the pylons. These are the giant spires that sit on top of the bridge deck that hold the cables.

The method of setting the pylons in place was not drawn from the most modern and up-to-date methods of construction but rather from the ancient Egyptians. Engineers studied how the greatest builders of ancient times raised their obelisks into place and decided that in over three thousand years it was the best method possible.

There are probably some very interesting lessons to be learned from this. One that comes to mind is the wisdom in preserving old knowledge no matter how out of date the actual methods might seem. What is the price to be paid for losing or squandering old and invaluable knowledge? It's probably incalculable. Think of the so called greatest minds of the 15th century. Pre-Renaissance marine super powers and scholars were arguing over the shape of the earth almost 1600 years after the Greek mathematician Eratosthenes had calculated not only its spherical shape but its size with reasonable accuracy. What happened to that knowledge? How could we have fallen so dreadfully backwards. What could have so successfully repressed this knowledge? I doubt you could blame the destruction of the great library of Alexandria for all of the forgetting that has occurred.

And what of the knowledge we inherently possess and then through society's machinations systematically lose. Microbiologists are now leaving their laboratories and going to remote jungles to learn the secrets of plants from medicine men who have stored this knowledge for generations without the use of a written language. It's about time. Much of what we embrace now as 'new age' is actually very old. We've only started to get in touch with it again.

Oh,by the way, my big project is a chicken shack. We want to raise chickens and eat our own eggs! Wish me luck.