Wednesday, September 14, 2005

The Revenge of Ockham's Razor!

Entities must not be multiplied needlessly.
Archimedes screwThat's the Razor of William of Ockham (or Occam, as you please), and I've always given it the following interpretation: "the simplest solution that meets requirements is the best solution."

The Archimedes water screw (pictured) is an example of Ockham's Razor in action. It's essentially unchanged in design since it was developed sometime before 200 BC. And it's in use in many parts of the world:
  • in Egypt and other parts of the Middle East it's still lifting water, as was its original intention
  • The US Department of the Interior is using it as a "fish-friendly pump," or at least testing it that way
  • it's used at very small size in heart surgery
  • and it moves lighter particulate substances like grains.
A simple solution that's not really been improved upon in a couple thousand years.

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posted by Ron @ 9:37 PM

1 Comments:

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