Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Max Jammer
1969 edition adds two pages to introduction of the 1954 edition and merges the
appendix into the text , adding one page (199). There are actually quite a few
untranslated passages embedded in the text. My translations are rough and literal.
Comments and corrections welcome. Page numbers refer to '69 edition. The
1994 edition from Dover (261 pages) adds a Chapter 6, but is otherwise the same.
Chapter I The Concept of Space in Antiquity
Only the one untranslated passage occurs in this chapter.
p. 26. Moritz Cantor referes to this passage and says : "Bei der Unbestimmtheit
dieser Angabe mssen wir allerdings dahin gestellt sein lassen, ob man glauben
will, es seien in jener Schrift Gedanken enthalten gewesen, welche dem Begriffe
von Raumkoordinaten nahe kommen."
[From the indefinitness of these statements we must indeed allow to be stated,
whether one will believe it, that there may have been in those writings, thoughts
which came near to the concept of space coordinates.]
Chapter II Judeo-Christian Ideas about Space
p. 29 With reference to these words Fabricius adds the following interesting
remarks: "Deum Hebraei non dubitant, quia a nullo continetur, ipse vero
immensa virtute sua continet omnia, appellare "mak.om" sive locum, ut saepe fit
in libello rituum Paschalium quem edidit Ritangelius." J. A. Fabricius, ed., Sexti
Empirici opera (Leipzig, 1840-41), p. 681
[The Hebrews do not hesitate to call God (god), because contained by nothing,
himself by his truly immeasurable power containing all, "mak.om" or (sive)
"place" as often done in little book of Paschal ritual which Ritangelius edited]
(why is this particularly interesting?)
p. 33 Reuchlin's De verbo mirifico[on the wonderful, marvelous word]
p.34 Rainoldes' Censura librorum apocryphorum Veteris Testamentis. [judgement,
critique of the apocryphal books of the old testament]
footnote 27 Thomas Campanella, Medicinalium justa propria principia libri
septem (Lyons, 1635) [the correct proper principles of medicine book seven]
p.35 mundus mathematicus seu spatium [mathematical world or space]
p. 35 In his Metaphysicarum rerum juxta (sic. justa?) propria dogmata : ["of
metaphysical things close to or near like individual or special doctrines or
dogmas" or, perhaps, "correct proper dogmas of metphysical matters"]
Campanella characterizes this mathematical world or space as the "omnium
divinitas substentas, portansque omnia verbo virtutis suae . . ."
[divinity of all things standing firm and bearing all things by word of his strength
(of his word) or in his excellent name]
1
Companella states that space is in God, but God is not limited by space, which is
His "divina creatura." The idea of the identification of space with at least an
attribute of the Divine Being gains new impetus in the second book, where we
read: "Spatium, entia locans invenio primum immortale, quia nulli est
contrarium." In Campanella's conception, space becomes an absolute, almost
spiritual entity, characterized by divine attributes.
[Space, giving place to existing things I find (to be) first immortal, because it has
no contrary .]
p. 36 " , . . horum clarissimus erat Thomas Campanella Stylensis, cujus in corpus
Telesii ingenium transmigrasse dicebatur."
[was of the highest intellect, who is said to have transmigrated into the body of
Telesi.]
p. 37 "Ego sum lux mundi"
According to Saint Bonaventure, God is "spiritualis lux in omnia-moda
actualitate." [spiritual light in every way actual ]
p.39 "ultimum continentis immobilis," in contrast to Aristotle's "ultimum
immobile continentis." [highest or final containing immobile or immobile
container] Which one is which I don't know; nor what exactly the distinction is
supposed to mean.
p. 40. The assertion, "Unumquodque primum corporum est locus et forma
inferiori sub ipso per naturam lucis, " is proved by a series of syllogisms.
[and each one of the prime bodies is position and form begotten by light further
down beneath itself]
Footnote 52."Cuius expositio est quod locus est ultimum continentis immobilis;
illud autem ultimum caeli est ultimum per comparationem ad id ad quod
determinatur locus unicuique inferiori sub ipso, sicut manifestum est de naui et
palo fixo in aqua. mutat enim superficiem corporis continentis, scilicet aquae, non
tamen mutat locum quia caeli non mutat partem, per comparationem ad quam
determinabatur ei locus. unde caeli ultimum locus est. Hoc autem habet naturam
lucis. Illud enim ultimum est continens et conseruans, cum sit locus . . ."
[ Of which the explanation is that location/space is highest of the containing
immobile (things); however that highest (place) of heaven is highest by
comparision to that to which each lower place is determined/confined under
itself, just as (it) is clear regarding a ship and attached pole (mast?) in water. It
moves indeed (on?) surface (acc) of containing body, water of course, still it
(does) not change place because (it does) not change part of heaven , by
2
comparison to that which that place was defined . whence (the) place of heaven is
(the) highest place. This however has nature of light. That indeed highest is
containing and preserving, as is place. ]
p. 42. The answer lies, according to (Henry) More, in the nature of space, the
clear understanding of which can alone save philosophy from an otherwise
inevitable atheism. "Atque ita per eam ipsam januam per quam Philosophia
Cartesiana Deum videtur velle e Mundo excludere, ego, e contra, eum introducere
rursus enitor et contendo."
[and so going through that same gate through which Cartesian Philosophy wishes
to see God excluded from the world, I , on the contrary, strive and contend to
introduce Him again.]
p. 43. Descartes contended that the walls of a vessel that is exhausted of air must
necessarily collapse. "Si quaeratur, quid fiet, si Deus auferat omne corpus quod in
aliquo vase continetur, et nullum aliud in ablati locum venire permittat:
Respondendum est: Vasis latera sibi invicem hoc ipso fore contigua.? Principia
philosophiae, II, 18.
[if asked, what will happen, if God withdraws every body which is contained in
some vessel, and allows no other to come in place of the removed (bodies): the
response is: the sides of the vessel themselves in turn (or mutually) by this same
way shall be touching]
p. 44. Sed vasis latera non fierunt contigua!
[but in fact the sides of the vessel are not made contiguous]
The existence of space is guaranteed by its very measurability "par aunes ou par
lieues." [by elles or by leagues]
p. 47. because Non entis nulla est Affectio, according to the Reasonings of your
beloved Master.
[not being nothing is an affection]
p. 48. The attributes of space are attributes of God. A list of these attributes is
given in More's Enchiridion metaphysicum:
Neque enim Reale duntaxat, (quod ultimo loco notabimus) sed Divinum quiddam
videbitur hoc Extensum infinitum ac immobile, (quod tam certo in rerum natura
deprehenditur) postquam Divina illa Nomina vel Titulos qui examussim ipsi
congruunt enumeravimus, qui & ulteriorem fidem facient illud non posse esse
nihil, utpote cui tot tamque praeclara Attributa competunt.
Literally: [For not only the Real (concerning which we write below) but also this
infinite and immobile Extension will be seen a kind of Divinity (because i.e the
Extension so certainly found in things produced naturally) when we have
3
enumerated those Names or Titles which agree perfectly and which produce
greater confidence that a thing cannot be nothing, inasmuch as what so many
very clear Attributes are agree.]
Ed Cryer suggests: [This infinite and motionless Extension (which is found so
certainly in nature) will appear not only Real (on which we shall comment at the
end) but somewhat Divine after we have enumerated those Divine Names, or
Titles rather, which agree so precisely with each other, and which will provide
further proof that a thing cannot be nothing when so many such distinct Attributes
coincide in it.]
Cujusmodi sunt quae sequuntur, quaeque Metaphysici Primo Enti speciatim
attribunt.
[Of such kind are those (i.e. titles) which follow, and which Metaphysicians
attribute to Prime Being as species.]
Ut unum, Simplex, Immobile, Aeternum, Completum, Independens, A se extens,
Per se substens, Incorruptibile, Necessarium, Immensum, Increatum,
Incircumscriptum, Incomprehensibile, Omnipraesens, Incorporeum, Omnia
permeans & complectans, Ens per Essentiam, Ens actu, Purus Actus.
[As one, Single, Immovable, Eternal, Complete, Independent, Self Caused, Self
Subsisting, Incorruptible, Necessary, Vast, Uncreated, Unbounded,
Incomprehensible, Omnipresent, Incorporeal, All Pervading and Embracing ,
Existing in Substance, Being in Actuality, Pure Action.]
Non pauciores quam viginti Tituli sunt quibus insigniri solet Divinum Numen, qui
infinito huic Loco interno, quem in rerum natura esse demonstravimus, aptissime
conveniunt: ut omittam ipsam Divinum Numen apud Cabbalistes appelari
"mak.om," id est, Locum.
Literally: [ Not fewer than twenty Titles (there) are (with) which we are
accustomed to mark the Sacred Will, how boundless this internal Place, which is
revealed in natural things, agreeing most suitably: even if I might lay aside that
same Divine Will, (which is) among Cabbalistes called "mak.om," that is, Place.]
Ed Cryer suggests: [There are no less than twenty Titles which are used to
distinguish the Divine Power, and these agree most aptly with this infinite internal
Place, which we have shown to exist in nature. To say nothing of the fact that the
Divine Power itself is called by the Cabbalistes "mak.om", i.e. Place.]
Note: "mak.om," (with the dot is under the k) is a Hebrew word meaning "place".
More, Enchiridion metaphysicum, part I, chap. 8. [handbook of metaphysics]
Chapter 3
The Emancipation of the Space Concept from Aristotelianism
p. 55 Themistius Paraphrasis in libros quatuor Aristotelis de caelo.
[Aristotle's De Caelo paraphrased in four books]
p. 57 It is this tendency, inherent in the moving body and not in the medium or in
space, that corresponds to the "impetus" in the case of forced motion. Philoponus'
explanation of the fall of heavy bodies shows a remarkable resemblance to the
explanation of gravity suggested by Copernicus:
"Equidem existimo gravitatem non aliud esse,
quam appententiam (sic., perhaps appetentiam ) quandam naturalem partibus
inditam a divina providentia opificis universorum,
ut in unitatem integritatemque suam sese conferant in forman (sic., perhaps
formam) globi countes." De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, liber I cap. IX.
[Indeed I think gravity not to be different,
than (a) longing for a certain natural region introduced by divine providence of
architect (framer, artisan, workman) of worlds ,
in order that in unity and oneness they (i.e. things) gather themselves in form of a
dense mass (globi) collected together]
p. 58 Damascius' treatise Peri arithmou kai topou kai chronou [On the numbers
and places and periods (of time).]
p.58 - Simplicius Corollarium de loco of Commentaria to Aristotle's Physics
p. 59 For example, Themistius in his Paraphrasis in libros quatuor Aristotelis de
caelo says:
"Sed conversio,
immo omnis motus,
super manente ac quiescente aliquo omnino celebratur. 1
[but on the contrary,
rather all that is moved,
performs entirely over some other remaining and resting (thing).]
In iis autem,
quae De Animalium Motu a nobis dicta sunt,
monstratum est id,
quod manet ac quiescit,
illius autem partem esse non posse,
quod super ipso movetur."
[In the same however,
1 =>celebratur
celebr.atur
V 1 1 PRES PASSIVE IND 3 S
celebro, celebrare, celebravi, celebratus V (1st) TRANS [XXXAO]
celebrate/perform; frequent; honor/glorify; publicize/advertise; discuss/bandy;
p. 73 That this problem was really one of the major incitements to Copernicus'
drastic revision of the accepted cosmological conception may be seen from
various remarks in his De revolutionibus orbium caelestium (1543). In chapter V
of the first book he says:
"Cumque caelum sit,
quod continet et caelat omnia,
communis universorum locus,
non statim apparet,
cur non magis contento quam continentj,
locato quam locantj motus attribuatur."
My literal translation: [while to heaven (movement may be attributed ),
which contains and finishes all,
common place of all things,
(it) does not immediately appear,
why not rather to contained than containing,
to located than locating, movement may be attributed (i.e. to containing and
locating as well as to heaven).]
Ed Cryer suggests: [While there is the sky, which contains and carves all things ,
the common location of everything, it is not immediately apparent why movement
is not rather attributed to the content than the container, the located rather than the
locater.]
My translation seems to be right.
B. T. Raven suggests:
[And since the sky (space?) would be,
what contains and covers (celat)all things,
the common place of all (entium?),
it is not immediately apparent,
why motion should not be attributed rather to the contained than the containing, to
the located than the locating.]
In chapter VII of the same book .... He writes: "Addo etiam, quod satis absurdum
videretur, continenti sive locanti motum adscribi, et non potius contento et locato,
quod est terra."
[I add also,
that it should be seen sufficiently absurd,
to containing or to location, motion to be ascribed,
and not rather to contents and to place
which is earth]
8
Cusanus, objecting the spatial hierarchy of values, states explicitly: "Neque dici
debet, quod quia terra est minor sole et ab eo recipit influentiam, quod propterea
sit vilior."
[Neither ought it to be said
that because this earth is smaller than the sun and from it receives influence
that for this reason it should be meaner.]
p 84. Even in Cardan's De subtilitate, space is still conceived in accord with
Aristotelian tradition as the concave survace of the limiting body. "Est igitur
locus ultima corporis superficies, corpus contentum ambicus." Jerome Cardan,
De subtilitate, lib. I.
[final place is therefore surface of body,
body contained (by encircling thing).]
p. 85. Scaliger presupposes the vacuum as a necessary condition of motion. "In
natura vacuum dari necesse est." J. C. Scaliger, Exotericarum exercitationum
liberi ad Hieronymum Cardanum (Lutet, 1557)
[in nature empty (place) is necessary to allow]
"Idemque esse vacuum et locum; neque differre, nisi nomine."
[and also to empty and place; neither differing, except only in name.]
Telesio
If a body leaves its place or is expelled from it, place itself does not leave, nor is it
expelled, but remains the same, promptly becoming the receptacle of another
body.
Itaque locus entium quorumvis receptor fieri queat
et in existentibus entibus recedentibus expulsisve
nihil ipse recedat expellaturve,
sed idem perpetuo remaneat
et succedentia entia promptissime suscipiat omnia,
tantusque assidue ipse sit,
quantaquae (sic.) in ipso locantur sunt entia;
perpetio (sic.) nimirum iis,
quiae (sic.) in ea (sic. eo?) locata sunt,
aequalis,
at eorum nulli idem sit nec fiat unquam,
sed penitus ab omnibus diversus sit.
[Accordingly the place of any body whatever can be made the receiver
and in leaving the being which withdraws or driven out
nothing at all of itself may be withdrawn or expelled,
but remans always the same
and readily recieve all succeeding beings,
as much may continue to be itself,
10
p. 87. Patritius "Id enim ante omnia necesse est esse, quo posito alia poni possunt
omnia; quo ablato alia omnia tollantur."
[It (space) however before all is necessary to be existing (existance),
which postulated all others can be placed,
which removed all others are removed]
Ed Cryer suggests: For this must be before all other things. Posit this and all other
things can be posited; take it away and all other things are taken away.
"Nulla ergo categoriarum spatium complectitur; ante eas est, extra eas omnes est."
[None however of the categories includes space,
it is before them,
it is beyond them all.]
Itaque aliter de eo philosophandum est quam ex categoriis. Spatium ergo extensio
est hypostatica per se substans, nulli inhaerens. Non est quantitas. Et si quantitas
est, non est illa categoriarum, sed ante eam ejusque fons et origo. Patritius,
Pancosmia. De spatio physico, 65 f.
[and so of that ought to be philosophized other than (aliter .. quam) from the
categories.
Space therefore is hypostatic3 extension , subsisting of itself,
adhering in nothing.
It is not quantity.
And if it (extension) is quantity,
it (that quantity) is not (one) of categories,
but before it (i.e. that one of the categories) and fountain and origin of the very
same thing (i.e of that category).]
p. 89 It is therefore only natural that Bruno expresses a new conception of infinite
space on the ground that "Si non superficies sed spatium quoddam locus est,
nullum corpus neque ulla corporis illocata erit sive maximum, sive minimum sive
finitum sit ipsum, sive infinitum."
[If a certain place (or, if a defined place) is not surface but, so to speak, (or a kind
of) space,
no body nor anything will be unlocated by body whether largest,
whether least whether itself limited,
whether unlimited.]
p. 90. Campanella develops Patritius' theory of space still further, maintaining
that space is the immovable basis of all existence: "basin omnis creati, omniaque
praecedere esse saltem origine et natura."
[foundation of all created,
3 hypostatize; to construe (a conceptual entity) as a real existent: reify
12
13
Gassendi, Syntagma philosophicum(Florence, 1727), part II, sec. 1, lib. II, cap. 1.
According to Gassendi, this priority is not only logical or ontologica, but also
temporal, for he says explicitly: "Unum est, spatia immensa fuisse, antequam
Deus conderet mundum."
[one is,
immeasurable spaces have been,
before God made the world.]
It is certainly no fiction, not even the mode of a substance. "Cum ex deductis
constet posse quidem ea spatia dici nihil corporeum, seuquale (sic., sivequale)
substantia, aut accidens est, sed non nihil incorporeum ac specialis sui generis:
constat quoque esse ea posse, etsi intellectus non cogitet, ac non quemadmodum
chimaeram merum esse opus imaginationis."
[when by reason of deduction (deductive reasoning) certainly to be able indeed
these spaces are called nothing corporeal,
or if (it is) a kind of substance,
or is accident,
but not nothing incorporal and of its own special kind:
it is likewise understood,
constantly likewise able to be the same,
and yet (although) the intellect does not imagine (it),
and not as to be a chimaera, a mere work of imagination.]
Ed Cryer suggests: While it is agreed from deduced principles that those spaces
can be termed nothing corporeal at all, whether like substance or like accident, but
not "nothing incorporeal" and of their own special kind; it is agreed also that they
can be, even though the mind may not think them, and that they are not a mere
figment of the imagination like a chimaera.
p. 94 Epistolae tres de motu impresso a motore translato [three letters on
impressing motion by transfering from mover]
14
Chapter 4
The Concept of Absolute Space
p. 97 In "De quadratura curvarum" Newton writes: "Quantitates mathematicas,
non ut ex partibus quam minimis constantes, sed ut motu continuo descriptas, hic
considero . . . Hae geneses in rerum nature (sic., perhaps naturale) locum vere
habent et in motu corporum quotidie cernuntur."
[I consider here mathematical quantities not as consisting of parts as small as
possible, but as described by continuous motion .... These truly have beginning in
natural place of things and in movement of bodies ordinarily
understood/distinguished.]
For although Newton calls the laws of motion "axioms" (Axiomata sive leges
motus), [axioms or laws of motion] the term "axiom" as employed by Newton in
this context certainly does not have the modern meaning of an arbitrary
assumption; phrases like "lex tertia . . . per theoriam comprobata est" [third law ...
justified by theory] or "certa sit lex tertia motus" show clearly that Newton by his
use of the term axiom ... [let the third law of motion be fixed ]
These translations do not seem to me to support Jammer's thesis. Are axioms ever
actually arbitrary?
p. 104. Berkeley: Newton's cosmological assumption that the center of the world
is at rest escapes all possibility of experimental or observational verification. The
fact was clearly recognized by Berkeley, one of the great opponents of the theory
of absolute space. In "De motu" he writes:
"Uti vel ex eo patet quod,
quum secundam illorum principia
qui motum absolutum inducunt,
nullo symptomate scire liceat,
utrum integra rerum compages quiescat,
an moveatur uniformiter in directum,
perspicuum sit motum absolutum nullius corporis cognosci posse."
[As even from that it is seen (patior, to be visible) that ,
while following from the principles of those
who induce absolute motion
no symptom is allowed to be known,
whether the entire framework (compages, a joining, connection, structure) of
things may (be at) rest,
or be moved uniformly in direction,
evidently absolute motion of no body can be known.]
Ed Cryer suggests: As for instance is seen from the fact that, since, according to
(secundum) the principles of those who infer absolute motion, by no event can it
be known whether the whole structure of things is at rest or is moving uniformly
15
motion. But I have reasons for believing that nothing breaks this general law of
equivalence."
p. 122. But Huygens is opposed to any compromise. Thus he writes in a letter
dated August 24, 1694:
Pour ce qui est du mouvement absolu et relatif, j'ay admire vostre memoire, de ce
que vous vous estes souvenu , qu'autrefois j'estois du sentiment de Mr. Newton,
en ci qui regard le mouvement circulaire.
Ce qui est vray,
et il n'y a que 2 ou 3 que j'ay trouve celuy qui est plus veritable, duquel il semble
que vous n'estes pas eloigne non plus maintenant,
si non ence (sic. en ce?) que vous voulez,
que lorsque plusieurs corps ont entre eux du mouvement relatif, ils aient chacun
un certain degre de mouvement veritable , ou de force, enquoy je ne suis point de
vostre avis .
[as regards what is absolute or relative motion, I am astonished (wonder) at your
memory (or note), of that which you have recalled to your mind, that formerly I
was of the opinion of Mr. Newton, in that which regards circular movement.
Which is true,
and there are not but 2 or 3 (years?) since I have found that (opinion) which is
more true ,
from which it seems that you are not more distant now,
except (si non ence) that you want,
that when many bodies have among them relative movement, they have each a
certain degree of true movement, or of force, in which I am not at all of your
opinion.]
p. 123. Leibniz not only realized the inherent similarity, or near identity, of the
problem under discussion with the problem whether the Ptolemaic or the
Copernican system is preferable, but he even composed a treatise, Tentamen de
motuum coelestium causis, [Tentamen , trial, test, proof] whose intention is to
show how the arguments with regard to the mechanical relativity of motion
suggest the equifalence of the two rival cosmological systems. It seems that he
originally intended to publish this work in Rome during his visit to the Holy City.
But caution prevailed and he submitted only a Promemoria, whose theoretical
part begins with the statement:
"Ut vero res intelligatur exactius,
sciendum est Motum ita sumi,
ut involvat aliquid respectivum
et non posse dari phaenomena ex quibus absolute determinetur motus aut quies;
constitit enim motus in mutatione situs seu loci."
[that truly the matter may be understood exactly,
movement having been thus to be assumed,
19
20
Je ne suis pas mme fort elogne (sic. eloign?) de la vostre, et dans un petit
papier que je communiquay Mr. Viviani, et qui me paroissoit (sic. paratre,
appear, make plane?) propre persuader Messieurs de Rome a permettre
l'opinion de Copernic, je m'en accomodois .
[I am not so far from you, and through a little paper which I communicated to
Mr. Viviani, and which seems to me suitable to persuade the Gentlemen
(Messieurs) of Rome to permit the opinion of Copernicus, I have adjusted myself
to it] .
Cependant si vous estes dans ces sentimens sur la realit du mouument, je
m'imagine que vous deuris (sic. devriez?) en avoir sur la nature du corps de
differens de ceux qu'on a coustume d'avoir. J'en ay d'assez singuliers (?) et qui me
paroissent (sic. paratre?) demonstrs .
[Nevertheless if you are of these opinions on the reality of movement, I think that
you ought to have different (opinions) on the nature of bodies than one is
accustomed to have. I have them (opinions?) sufficiently unique (singuliers ?)
and which appear to me to be demonstrated.] .
p. 124.
Diu putavi in circulari motu haberi veri motus but Jammer translates this!
salva veritate
Latin for "saving the truth." If two expressions can be interchanged without changing the truthvalue of the statements in which occur, they are said to be substitutable salva veritate.
A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names
21
Chapter 5
The Concept of Space in Modern Science
p. 128 "Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei", [the heavens explain fully the glory of God,
"the heavens proclaim the glory of the Lord"]
p. 129. Leonhard Euler grappled with the problem for more than thirty years. In
his Mechanica sive motus scientiae analytice exposita [analytical knowledge of
mechanics or movement expounded] Euler develops his mechanics on Newtonian
lines and introduces the concept of absolute space and absolute motion in the
spirit of the Principia. So his second definition reads: "Locus est pars spatii
immensi seu infiniti in quo universus mundus consistit. Vocari hoc sensu
acceptus locus solet absolutus, ut distinguatur a loco relativo, cuius mox fiet
mentio."
[Location (space) is portion of space immense or boundless in which the whole
world stands together, (comes about, is established, consists). Receiving location
is usually called absolute in this sense , in order to be distinguished from relative
location, of which next will be made mention.]
p. 130. in his "Rflexions sur l'espaces et le temps: emphasized the necessary
existence of absolute space; for he had come to the conclusion that some real
existing substratum is indispensable to the determination of motion. Since this
substratum appears not to exist in the casual surrounding material, it must be
space itself that exists in this capacity. "On en devroit plutt conclure, que tant
l'espace absolu, que le temps, tels que les Mathmaticiens se les figurent, toient
des choses relles, qui subsistent mmes hors de notre imagination." [one rather
ought to conclude , that as much absolute space, as time, such as the
mathematiciens imagine them, were real things, which subsist themselves
(memes) out of our imagination.]
Euler's demonstration of the reality of absolute space on the basis of the law of
inertia appears finally in his Theoria motus corporum solidorum seu rigidorum,
[theory of motion of bodies solid or rigid] though the Mechanica already insists
that the laws of motion presuppose the existence of absolute space. "Si hac
significatione expositae voces accipiantur, vocari solent motus absolutus,
quiesque absoluta. Atque hae sunt verae et genuinae istarum vocum definitiones,
sunt enim accomodatae ad leges motus, quae in sequentibus explicabuntur."
[whether in this meaning (significatione ) the expressions set forth are accepted,
(they are) ordinarily called absolute motion, absolute rest. But as these are true
and authentic, natural definitions of these expressions, they are indeed suitable to
laws of motion, which are in the following set forth.]
The law is formulated in Axioma 2
p. 131. as follows: "Corpus, quod absolute quiescit, si nulli externae actioni fuerit
subjectum, perpetuo in quiete perseverabit." [body, which absolutely rests, if it
be subject to no external action, persists perpetually in rest] In the "Explicatio"
22
25
[ thus wherever either more or less essential in anything where it is contained that
which compares width/thickness of these, there we become acquanted with this
fourth dimension, which I name the essential density/thickness]
p. 182 With regard to Christian teratology Zllner says: "Das sacrificium
intellectus welches die christlichen Wunder vom Verstande bisher verlangten, ist
durch die Entdeckung jenes neuen Gebietes der Physik - der
Transcendentalphysik - zum ungetrbten Genusse des Neuen Testamentes nicht
mehr erforderlich."
[the sacrificium intellectus which the Christian miracle previously demanded of
understanding, is through the discovery of that new region of physics - the
transcendental physics - no more required for the unspoiled, undiminished
(ungetrbten) profit, enjoyment (Genusse ) of the New Testament]
p. 189. De Broglie: He says:
Les donnes de nos perceptions nous conduisent construire un cadre de l'espace
et du temps o toutes nos observations peuvent se localiser. Mais les progrs de
la Physique quantique nous amnent penser de notre cadre de l'espace et du
temps n'est pas adquat la vritable description des ralits de l'chelle
microscopique. Cependant, nous ne pouvons gure penser autrement qu'en termes
d'espace et de temps et toutes les images que nous pouvons voquer s'y rattachent.
De plus, tous les rsultats de nos observations, mme celles qui nous apportent le
reflet des ralits du monde microsphysique, s'expriment ncessairement dans le
cadre de l'espace et du temps. C'est pourquoi nous cherchons tant bien que mal
nous reprsenter les ralits microphysiques (corpuscules ou systme de
corpuscules) dans ce cadre qui ne leur est pas adapt.
[the data of our perceptions leads us to construct a framework of space and time
in which all our observations can be localized. But the progress of (quantum?)
physics makes us agreeable to think of our framework of space and time is not
adequate to the true description of reality of the microsopic scale. Nevertheless,
we are not much able to think other than in terms of space and time and all our
images which we are able to invoke attach themselves to it. Moreover, all the
result of our observations, those same things which furnish to us the reflection of
the realites of the microphysical world, necessarily express themselves through
the framwork of space and of time. Therefore we find to represent to us
indifferently (as good as bad) the microphysic realities (corpuscles or systems of
corpuscles) through this framework which is not adapted to them.]
spisstdo, nis, f. id., thickness, density, consistency (post-Aug. and very rare): aris crassi, Sen.
Q. N. 2, 30, 4: mellis, Scrib. Comp. 4; 5: emplastri, id. ib. 81: non nimis liquida, id. ib. 37:
spissitudinem ejus absolvere, Pall. 12, 17, 2.
26
Chapter 6
Recent Developments
p. 218 "metabasis eis allo genos" Greek
metabasis: moving over, shifting, e.g. of the body in walking, from one leg to the
other; change of position, transition from one subject to another
eis: prep. with acc. only. Radical sense, into, and then to:
allo: anything else,
genos, eos or ous, to: in Logic, opp. eidos (species),
class, sort, kind, ta
27