From gls@think.com Thu Jun 11 17:11:55 1992 Received: from mail.think.com (Mail1.Think.COM) by life.ai.mit.edu (4.1/AI-4.10) id AA12924; Thu, 11 Jun 92 17:11:55 EDT Return-Path: Received: from Strident.Think.COM by mail.think.com; Thu, 11 Jun 92 16:52:32 -0400 From: Guy Steele Received: by strident.think.com (4.1/Think-1.2) id AA18593; Thu, 11 Jun 92 16:52:31 EDT Date: Thu, 11 Jun 92 16:52:31 EDT Message-Id: <9206112052.AA18593@strident.think.com> To: ronnie@cisco.com Cc: wft@math.canterbury.ac.nz, Cube-Lovers@life.ai.mit.edu In-Reply-To: ronnie@cisco.com's message of Wed, 10 Jun 92 12:11:35 PDT <9206101911.AA01765@wolf.cisco.com> Subject: Name query. From: ronnie@cisco.com Date: Wed, 10 Jun 92 12:11:35 PDT > Can anyone tell me:- > > Why is the "Pons Asinorum" pattern so called ? Pons Asinorum is Latin for "Asses' Bridge," and is the name of the proposition that the base angles of an isoceles triangle are equal. It is more generally any test of ability imposed upon the inexperienced or ignorant. The term also carries the connotation that the test is in fact of the simplest and most elementary kind. If you can't prove the Pons Asinorum of geometry, then you don't know even the most elementary concept of geometry--i.e., as a geometer, you know as much as a donkey. And if you cannot form the Pons Asinorum pattern, you sure don't know much about cubing. --Guy Steele