An Ounce - For Your Consideration
Discover hidden stories from history—bite-sized, clever tales that challenge what you thought you knew. At An Ounce, we uncover the little moments that quietly changed everything, surprising truths, and fascinating facts you won’t hear elsewhere.
I’m Jim Fugate—retired firefighter, lifelong learner, and an outside-the-box thinker who loves sharing history’s hidden gems. These quick, engaging stories don’t take themselves too seriously, won’t steal your precious time, and might just make you feel a little bit smarter.
I hope you’ll join a community of curious minds who enjoy a fresh take on history—where conversation is always open and everyone’s invited.
An Ounce - For Your Consideration
The Hidden History of Calculus: How a Monk Almost Erased its Brilliance
Seems nostalgic for some, outright joyful for others, but for a few – it is a time of overwhelming stress and foreboding. Not for everyone, mind you, but for some, the fear is real – but not for the reason you might think.
The fear – it comes from having to engage in… Dare I say it? … Calculus.
That’s right, I said it, Calculus.
So some of you will be dealing with the logic of ill-logical-ness (did I just make up a word there?) That’s right – you're going to be grappling with Binomial Theorem, and Cavalieri’s principle – in 3 dimensions! So get your polynomials lined up, because no simple imaginary number will suffice – unless it is the solution.
But did you know that a simple monk almost destroyed calculus before it had a chance to sprain your brains?
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