Chasing Elegants - Lauren Ipsum: A Story About Computer Science and Other Improbable Things - page 92

“So boats can see you,” said Laurie. “A short lighthouse wouldn't work so well. And you
need the twisty staircase to get to the top.”
“Why the light?”
“The light is so the boats can see you at night.”
“And the lighthouse keeper's room?”
“So you can see them .”
“Ah, so,” said Fresnel. “My balloon has a light very high up so people far away can see it. I
can look over the side and see them. I get to the top by elevator. The color doesn't matter. It
does everything a lighthouse does. Is it a lighthouse?”
“It's like a lighthouse,” Laurie admitted.
“You drive a hard bargain! I'll settle for 'like a lighthouse,'” he said.
“So that's how you Decompose?”
“That's it, more or less. You take a big idea apart and see the why behind each part. Then you
look for smaller ideas that do the same thing. For instance, what did you think of my little
bell?”
“Your little bell! That thing frightened the b—”
“It needs some adjustments, I agree. But the idea is sound,” he said. “The essential part of a
bell is the sound. Because the bell is way down on the ground, it needs a big sound so I can
hear it.”
“So why don't you use a big bell, then?” she asked.
“If I used a big bell, I'd need a big frame to hang it from, and a big ringer, and a big sign to
go along with it. All the inessentials get bigger,” Fresnel said. “There's no need to use a big,
complex idea when a small, simple one will do.”
“I wish I could tell Bruto that,” Laurie said, remembering the giant pyramid. “But he's so far
away.”
* * *
“Winsome, why am I delivering so many telescopes?” Laurie asked.
Winsome's expression turned stony. “It's not nice to open other people's mail.”
“I'm sorry. Those packages are really heavy and I wondered what could be so fragile and ex-
pensive and important . . .”
Winsome didn't say anything. She pretended to be busy with ropes and anchors.