A History of Western Philosophy

they
thought
simply of
doubling
all the
dimensions
of the
statue, but
then they
realized
that the
result
would be
eight times
as large as
the
original,
which
would
involve
more
expense
than the
god had
demanded.
So they
sent a
deputation
to Plato to
ask
whether
anybody in
the
Academy
could solve
their
problem.
The
geometers
took it up,
and worked
at it for
centuries,
producing,
incidentall
y, much
admirable
work. The
problem is,
of course,
that of
determinin
g the cube