Egg of Columbus
Encyclopedia
An egg of Columbus or Columbus's egg refers to a brilliant idea or discovery that seems simple or easy after the fact. The expression refers to a popular story of how Christopher Columbus
, having been told that discovering the Americas
was no great accomplishment, challenged his critics to make an egg
stand on its tip. After his challengers gave up, Columbus did it himself by tapping the egg on the table so as to flatten its tip.
The story is often alluded to when discussing creativity
. The term has also been used as the trade name of puzzles.
historian and traveler Girolamo Benzoni
. In his book History of the New World, published in 1565, he wrote:
The factual accuracy of this story is called into question by its similarity to another tale published fifteen years earlier (while Benzoni was still traveling in the Americas) by painter and architect Giorgio Vasari
. According to Vasari, the young Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi
had designed an unusually large and heavy dome for Santa Maria del Fiore
, the cathedral (Duomo) in Florence
, Italy. City officials had asked to see his model, but he refused, proposing instead:
When the church was finally built it had the shape of half an egg slightly flattened at the top.
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
, having been told that discovering the Americas
Voyages of Christopher Columbus
In the early modern period, the voyages of Columbus initiated European exploration and colonization of the American continents, and are thus of great significance in world history. Christopher Columbus was a navigator and an admiral for Castile, a country that later founded modern Spain...
was no great accomplishment, challenged his critics to make an egg
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
stand on its tip. After his challengers gave up, Columbus did it himself by tapping the egg on the table so as to flatten its tip.
The story is often alluded to when discussing creativity
Creativity
Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new that has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs...
. The term has also been used as the trade name of puzzles.
Source of the story
The Columbus story may have originated with ItalianItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
historian and traveler Girolamo Benzoni
Girolamo Benzoni
-Life:In 1541, at the age of twenty-two, Girolamo Benzoni set out from his birthplace, Milan , to seek adventure and fortune in the New World. He was to spend fifteen years in the territories conquered and being exploited by the Spaniards, travelling widely through the West Indies, Central America...
. In his book History of the New World, published in 1565, he wrote:
The factual accuracy of this story is called into question by its similarity to another tale published fifteen years earlier (while Benzoni was still traveling in the Americas) by painter and architect Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:...
. According to Vasari, the young Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi
Filippo Brunelleschi
Filippo Brunelleschi was one of the foremost architects and engineers of the Italian Renaissance. He is perhaps most famous for inventing linear perspective and designing the dome of the Florence Cathedral, but his accomplishments also included bronze artwork, architecture , mathematics,...
had designed an unusually large and heavy dome for Santa Maria del Fiore
Santa Maria del Fiore
The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral church of Florence, Italy. The Duomo, as it is ordinarily called, was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi...
, the cathedral (Duomo) in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Italy. City officials had asked to see his model, but he refused, proposing instead:
When the church was finally built it had the shape of half an egg slightly flattened at the top.
In popular culture
- A version of the story is told by the song Don Christopher by Indie rock band Bishop AllenBishop AllenBishop Allen is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York. The band's core members are Justin Rice and Christian Rudder, who are supported both on stage and in the studio by a rotating cast of musical collaborators...
on their album November, though the song says that Christopher Columbus "lopped the tip right off the shell." - The song, titled after the story, The Egg of Columbus is by The ExtraordinairesThe ExtraordinairesThe Extraordinaires are a five piece American indie rock band hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Originally formed by Jay Purdy and Matt Gibson in 2004, the group, which releases its albums in books bound in Masonite, is known for its use of storytelling within songs.Their latest album,...
, an Indie band out of Philadelphia, PA, and is featured on their album Electric and Benevolent. - In the anime series of Lupin the Third film, The Columbus Files, the egg itself is a priceless artifact that was owned by Columbus.
- In the anime series Sora no OtoshimonoSora no Otoshimono, also known as Heaven's Lost Property, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Suu Minazuki. The plot revolves around Tomoki Sakurai, a highly perverted young man struggling to live a peaceful life...
, the event of Columbus and the balancing of the egg is alluded to. - The narrator in The Great GatsbyThe Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
by F. Scott FitzgeraldF. Scott FitzgeraldFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
describes the islands of East Egg and West Egg saying, "They are not perfect ovals -- like the egg in the Columbus story, they are both crushed flat at the contact end..."
See also
- Egg of Li ChunEgg of Li ChunThe terms Li Chun egg balancing or egg of Li Chun refers to a Chinese folk belief that it is much easier to balance an egg on a smooth surface during Li Chun , than at any other time of the year...
, a Chinese egg-balancing tradition. - Tesla's Egg of ColumbusTesla's Egg of ColumbusNikola Tesla, at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, demonstrated a device he constructed known as the "Egg of Columbus." It was used to demonstrate and explain the principles of the rotating magnetic field model and the induction motor. Tesla's Egg of Columbus performed the feat of Columbus...
, a metal egg that stands on end in a rotating magnetic fieldMagnetic fieldA magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
. - Columbus Breaking the EggColumbus Breaking the EggColumbus Breaking the Egg is a 1752 engraving by English artist William Hogarth. Issued as the subscription ticket for his treatise on art, The Analysis of Beauty, it depicts an apocryphal tale concerning Christopher Columbus's response to detractors of his discovery of the New World...
, an engraving by William HogarthWilliam HogarthWilliam Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
. - Egg of Columbus (tangram puzzle)Egg of Columbus (tangram puzzle)The Egg of Columbus is a puzzle consisting of a flat egg-like shape divided into 9 pieces by straight cuts. The goal of the puzzle is to rearrange the pieces so as to form other specific shapes, as in a tangram....
. - Egg of Columbus (mechanical puzzle)Egg of Columbus (mechanical puzzle)The names Egg of Columbus and Columbus Egg have been used for several mechanical toys and puzzles inspired on the legend of Columbus balancing an egg on its end to drive a point...
. - SupereggSupereggIn geometry, a superegg is a solid of revolution obtained by rotating an elongated super-ellipse with exponent greater than 2 around its longest axis. It is a special case of super-ellipsoid....
, an egg-like toy designed by Piet HeinPiet Hein (Denmark)Piet Hein was a Danish scientist, mathematician, inventor, designer, author, and poet, often writing under the Old Norse pseudonym "Kumbel" meaning "tombstone"...
that stands on its ends. - Gordian KnotGordian KnotThe Gordian Knot is a legend of Phrygian Gordium associated with Alexander the Great. It is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem solved by a bold stroke :"Turn him to any cause of policy,...
. - VäinämöinenVäinämöinenVäinämöinen is the central character in the Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic Kalevala. His name comes from the Finnish word väinämö, meaning minstrel. Originally a Finnish god, he was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, magical...
in KalevalaKalevalaThe Kalevala is a 19th century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Finnish and Karelian oral folklore and mythology.It is regarded as the national epic of Finland and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature...
was asked to tie an egg into a knot, in which he succeeded.