W5D7

Benchmark

Telemachus who was the tutor of Basileus, one day set him a task. The boy of 14 was to take the measurements of a water tank. The tank was of regular shape and occupied one side of the house. Basileus measured the tank as he was told.
He had to set it in the parchment where the house was already drawn in detail. Though he had the size correct he could not place it properly since he had overlooked one important detail: he had not measured the distance of the tank from the main building.
The tutor explained the triangulation method by which he could set the tank true in relation to the known: the house. Later in the evening he said: “knowing the world itself doesn’t make life good or proper. It must be in relation to a fixed point. Truth is that point. It gives every life its proper value.”
Aesop who was present never forgot that lesson. (Selected: The Life of Aesop p.20)
benny