sponges, gears, and characters sponges “I have an idea,” Poseidonios thought on the Greek island of Rhodes, simultaneously having in mind the idea he referred to, and the meta-idea of having that very idea. “I have an idea,” Charles Babbage thought a mere twothousand years later in Victorian London, simultaneously having in mind the idea he referred to, and the meta-idea of having that very idea. Both savants thought of the mechanical computer. The 22 oarsmen’s strained muscles are driving the two vessels eastward. Both caiques are laden with sponges, brought to the surface by a party of six divers … Continue reading →