Cartesius Page #11

---

terrestrial things it performs wonders,

it enlarges objects

and succeeds in discovery

everything that can be

seen with the naked eye,

but when aimed at

the sky it is useless.

I approve of Keplero's theories,

I have checked many

of his observations

and have re-done

many of his calculations.

If he hadn't died two years ago, I would

have gone to find him at Lisbon,

where he had taken refuge

due to the wars of religion,

to receive his approval.

The orbits of the planets are ellipses,

of which the sun occupies

one of the two focuses.

When Keplero made

his first calculations,

drawing on the observations

of his master Tico Brahe,

he made just one error

which he any way corrected:

he had taken ellipses

for ovals.

Keplero's highly original

idea was that of representing

the observations about

the paths of the stars

as if they had been observed

by watching them from the sun ,

rather than from the earth.

He calculated the revolution of Mars

along its ellipsis around the sun ,

to be a full distance of six

hundred and eighty seven days.

Resolving, revolutionising,

means continuously returning

to the starting point.

At the end of each ellipsis in fact,

the planet returns to the

identical place in the sky,

this place and the Sun's place

are the two fixed points

he referred to in order to determine

the position of the Earth.

With this kind of triangulation

of the skies, Keplero

succeeded in calculating the path of

all the other planets around the sun.

the speed and the distances

between the planets

These studies are of

extremely great importance.

For example, the Earth

appears to us much larger

than all the other celestial

bodies and the Moon and the Sun

appear to us to be larger

than all the stars,

but if we correct the

defect in our sight

by means of geometric reasoning ,

which is the only

infallible reasoning,

we realise that the Moon

is far away from us, let's say...

at around thirty times

the diameter of the earth,

and the sun six or seven

hundred diameters,

and by comparing these distances

with the what is the apparent

diameter of the sun and the moon,

we find that the moon

is smaller than the Earth and

that the sun is much , much larger.

Have you too ever had

the intention of adding

a few new planets to the

already known ones?

I see that you too have let yourself become

excited by the fashions of the innovators.

I am not an innovator.

I am simply trying to succeed

in discovering the true

face of the universe

with absolute certainty.

I hope that you have at least

realised that the universe is immense

and that its true face

is very far from you.

While waiting for dark, let's warm

ourselves up again with some chocolate.

And now gentlemen, I'll show

you something marvelous.

I will direct the telescope

towards the Pleiades.

I 'm switching off the lamp.

There you are gentlemen.

Admire the Pleiades.

I have to admit that it works.

The wonders of the skies.

How vast the sky is.

Please do not move gentlemen.

Excuse us.

Have you finished your

studies on meteors?

I've almost finished.

When are leaving for Dventer?

Tomorrow.

- Sir.

- Excuse me.

Dr Gerolamus will be here

in a minute with the letter

I asked you to deliver

to Mr Reigne at Dventer.

Yes, I know him.

Dr Gerolamus is a great

devourer of books,

I don't believe that any book exists

in Amsterdam that he hasn't read.

A respectable man is not obliged

to have read all the books,

there are many other

things to do in life

and knowledge does not depend

on what a man has read,

but also on what he has seen.

You are right.

Sir.

You too are right.

Ah, here's the theologian Gerolamus.

Come forward doctor.

Mr Wigens told me notable

things on your account.

I t seems that you have read

all the books in this city.

No, not all, and this displeases me.

I have not been able however,

to find any of your books.

I have written little.

My works are not yet diffuse.

I regret that, because I

learned from Mr Wigens

your doctrines about the

correct use of intelligence

and I find them very practical.

I appreciate Mr Reigne

at Dventer very much.

And do you appreciate them sir?

Tell the truth to Mr Descartes,

repeat to him what you told me.

I'm embarrassed.

I don't see why.

They seem to me to be the fruit

of immeasurable arrogance.

It is as if you want to

free human reason

from its dependence on its

creator and on the Bible

to which you make

absolutely no reference.

Many people have chided me for

this, and yet I can assure you

sir, that I work in all humility,

looking inside things,

because I believe things

to be the creatures of God

and that they bring the sign of

truth , whilst the wild fantasies

of the men from whom so many

obscure doctrines are born

are the fruit of arrogance.

When I wrote my treatise

on dioptrics,

I did not trust in fantasy,

I cut open and examined

the eyes of animals

and with suitable authorisation,

also those of dead men.

I observed for example

that the optic nerve,

is comprised of a great

number of small filaments

and that this is one of the

material means for the formation

of the image whose

nature remains any way

a mysterious gift

of divine goodness.

It now seems to me that

this research procedure

subjected to the sole

control of reason,

that puts together simple

data and precise deductions

is a humble work.

Dr Gerolamus certainly

appreciates your defence.

I appreciate it greatly, sir, but I didn't

wish to put you under accusation.

You certainly work humbly,

but without wanting it

you tempt the arrogance of men

who find the reasons for limitless

independence in your doctrine,

but I'm certain that you will

give much consolation

to Mr Reigne and his pupils -

these persons will unfortunately hail

you, given their excessive passion

for sciences which I will

never fail to rebuke them for.

This is what I have

written to Reigne.

As for your excessive

love for knowledge,

I remind you of the words

of our father Calvin

A man's desire

to know the truth

is a spark of light,

but this desire degenerates

into vanity because the human

spirit is so obtuse and weak

that alone he cannot maintain the right

road in the search for the truth

and that most often, he is

incapable of discerning the object

he must apply himself to

in order to find true knowledge.

Man's spirit with its

impoverished integrity,

even though blessed with excellent

gifts from God is too infirm,

as the scriptures say, to guide us

on every occasion in our lives

if not helped

at every instant,

by the light of

divine grace.

I would be grateful to you,

if you would take this letter

To Mr Reigne with my best

regards and I assure you

that I esteem your

passion for the truth,

which I also feel,

but at the same time fear.

Bretaigne, it's late.

Can't you manage

to get up even today.

Since you arrived,

the fever has never left me.

My dear Elena

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes