Have you noticed that the JARVIS logo is a series of receding parabolic arches? This is symbolic of the fact that this parabolic arch is used throughout our cave. It is quite important for the support of our oversize tunnels, some of which are wider than a basketball court.

The Greeks made very little use of arches. The Greek Parthenon, for example, was a series of columns with flat rock slabs on top of the columns. Unfortunately, that structure made the Parthenon rather vulnerable over the ages.

It is interesting to study the previous uses of arches in Construction. The word "architect" itself comes from the word "arch." The classic architect's job was to build things using arches. This didn't diminish the role of the architect for they developed magnificent structures employing the arch.

It was left to the Romans to develop the arch. They used it extensively in portals, bridges, aqueducts, temples, and in the famous Roman Coliseum. To this day we still make use of the Roman Arch in construction because it is easy to make a simple semicircle. This shape arch is strong but as to load-bearing it does have a weak point at its top; the parabolic-shaped arch as employed in Venice does not have this weakness. The Venetian arch is used to beautiful advantage in the palaces of Venice.

The arch permitted the design and construction of the great cathedrals of Europe. The first great cathedrals were Romanesque employing the Roman Arch. That is why they look a little squatty; they are not as lofty or beautiful as the more nearly parabolic arch employed by the Gothic cathedrals which followed. The added strength of the parabolic arch permitted architects to build more lofty cathedrals, to be closer to God. The structures also displayed the inherent beauty of the parabolic shape.

Proceeding later in history, it is too bad the gold rush miners in California didn't know about the weight-bearing characteristics of the arch. They built many of their mining tunnels in a rectangular shape with timber across the top. That is why those mining shafts are so dangerous to enter today. What a difference it would have made if the miners had known about the parabolic arch. They wouldn't have needed so much wood and would have had sounder tunnels that might still be safe today.