The How and the Why

There was excitement in the air this morning as students walked to class. After their first foray into Euclid’s definitions yesterday, the programmers couldn’t wait to build on what they had learned and dive into his first geometric propositions.

Classrooms were filled early as students prepared to demonstrate Propositions 1, 2, and 3 from Euclid’s Elements. They constructed equilateral triangles and learned to prove that you can create a line equal to another line. Confidence rose as students grew more comfortable with the patterns and method of the props. “I am the Prop-inator,” declared John P, as he carefully drew his circles on the board. With nothing but logic and a few simple tools, students investigated a new world and a new language of mathematical demonstration. 

From the crisp clarity of geometric construction, the day moved into deeper waters with Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy. Programmers met the imprisoned Roman philosopher as he grappled with the collapse of fortune and the silence of former friends. But just as geometry offered structure in a blank space, students saw Boethius begin to rebuild his shattered interior world through dialogue with Lady Philosophy. What does it mean to suffer unjustly? Is Fortune truly fickle, or is she merely fulfilling her role in the world? Can happiness be found in the external world, or only in the interior life of the soul aligned with truth? These were the questions ringing through the classroom as students wrestled with Boethius’s fusion of classical logic and Christian hope.

Today was a day of contrast and connection, of the tangible certainty of circles and the intangible consolation of wisdom in suffering. As student Maria Jose P. expressed during lunch, “Euclid shows us how to think clearly, and Boethius shows us why it matters.”

After class, the programmers were off to a full afternoon of dancing, dinner, and Adoration. Read all about it tomorrow on the Summer Program Blog!