Το σύμπαν της τέχνης και οι τέχνες τ' ουρανού

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Παρατηρητήριο της Μπογκοτά, Κολομβία, 1803

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Προσοφθάλμιο Koehler 120 μοιρών, 1960

A New Telescope Eyepiece with Extremely Large Field of View

Horst Kohler, Oberkochen

from Optik, Journal for Light and Electron Optics

Special Reprint, Optik 17 (1960), pp500-509

 

Αντίθετα από ότι πιστεύεται, δεν ανακάλυψε ο Al Nagler τα υπερευρυγώνια προσοφθάλμια. Υπάρχουν σχέδια από τον μεσοπόλεμο και εφαρμογές από την δεκαετία του 60 από τον Leitz και την Zeiss.

[kkokkolis]

Kinsley 5' Maksutov

 

Το Questar του μικροαστού

[kkokkolis]

Άνθρωπος με Τηλεσκόπιο, ΗΠΑ, 1902

Ταχυδρομική Κάρτα, Detroit Photographic Co.

[kkokkolis]

Αστρονόμος με κερί, Gerrit Dou, 1665

Ελαιογραφία

Μουσείο J. Paul Getty

[kkokkolis]

Ιαπωνικό διοπτρικό, 1784 ή 1796

Η επιγραφή διαβάζεται "πρώτοι μήνες της χρονιάς του Δράκου", εξ ου και η χρονολόγηση.

Τα ιαπωνικά διοπτρικά ήταν από τότε κοσμήματα

[kkokkolis]

Η ημέρα του Αστρονόμου, W. Roberts, 2003

 

Είναι μια κόλαση.

[kkokkolis]

Orion at Cinder Hills Overlook, Jeremy Perez, 2008

Ακρυλικό σε καμβά

Ο ζωγράφος είναι συν-συγγραφέας του Astronomical Sketching: A Step-by-Step Introduction (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series)

[kkokkolis]

Αστρονόμος με κερί, Gerrit Dou, 1655

Ελαιογραφία

Ο παλαιότερος

Μουσείο Stedelijk, Leiden

[kkokkolis]

4'' Brashear, 1900

 

Στερεοσκοπική κάρτα Holmes

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Παρατηρητήριο του Στρασβούργου, 1881

[kkokkolis]

Δίας, Wayne Roberts, 2003

Μεικτή τεχνική

[kkokkolis]

MILLENIUM 2000 - Α space odyssey

Σειρά γραμματοσήμων, Μπουτάν

[kkokkolis]

Rudimentorum Cosmographicorum, Johannes Honter, Κρακοβία, 1530

 

Liber I

Coelorum partes, stellas cum flatibus Urbes,

Regnaque cum populis, sparsas & in aequore terras,

Montesque & fluvios, iunctisque animalia plantis:

Officia, sectas varias, operumque labores,

Morborumque simul species & nomina dicam.

Mundus in aethereum, qui desuper imminet orbi,

Inque elementorum duplicatur corpora primum.

Aethereus duplices sphaerarum continet orbes,

Fixaque cum septem stellis errantibus astra.

Maiores cycli, qui mundum partibus aequis,

Distribuunt, ut signifer aequatorque feruntur:

Quemque dies medius designat, & imus horizon,

Lacteus, ac duo qui ducuntur ab axe coluri.

 

Zodiacus primum bissenis undique signis

Conspicuus, tropicum attingens obliquus utrunque

A summo cancrum, capricornum, cernit ab imo

At qui signiferum rectus secat, inque priori

Lanigeri libraeque gradulucem aequat & umbras,

Aequator, media in mundi regione locatur.

Qui paribus spacijs occasum cernit & ortum

Circulus, & gemino concurrit semper in axe:

Discernitque diem, variatque mesembrinus orbem.

Hinc medium sphaerae superum distinguit ab imo

Alter, & is coeli primum terraeque supremum

Coniungens, fertur (quia visum finit) horizon.

Lacteus hinc sequitur candore notabilis ipso,

Qui solo coelo spectatur nocte sereno,

Transversusque diu geminum praetermeat axem.

Mox bini subeunt, qui quatuor ante relatos,

Seque secant, gemino coeuntes cardine mundi,

Tempora qui signant anni, coelumque per astra,

Quattuor in partes diuisum mensibus aequis.

 

Hinc alios numerant praedictis orbe minores,

Qui per inaequales diducunt sidera partes.

Circulus ad boream complectitur Arcton, & intus

Sidera concludit liquidum fugientia pontum.

Alter ad aestui defixus sidera Cancri,

Solstitio longum cogit decedere Solem.

Tertius hunc ultra Brumalis nomine dictus,

Quo noctem tropico sol porrigit in Capricorno.

Unus ab his superest extremo proximus axi,

Quem terris pressum notius describit horizon.

Hisque parallelis zonis tibi quinque profundum

Dividitur coelum, totidemque plagae orbe premuntur,

Quarum quae media est, vix est habitabilis aestu,

Nix tegit alta duas, totidem inter utranque locatae

Temperiem retinent mixta cum frigore flamma.

Hanc nos incolimus, contraque antichthones illam.

Nec dubium antipodes multis consistere terrae

Partibus, ad centrum directis undique plantis.

Puncta duo coelum in paruos ubi voluitur orbes,

Constituere polos, geminoque a cardine mundi

Per centrum terrae tenuis deducitur axis.

 

Signifer hinc bissex obliquat sidera, quorum

Sex videt ad boream, sex aequidialis ad austrum.

Ter denis gradibus signum distinguitur unum,

Bis tricena gradus memoratur habere minuta.

Atqui signorum varia est natura genusque

Mascula sunt, aries, gemini, leo, libra, sagitta,

Fusor aquae iunctumque simul sortita calorem.

At sibi foemineam consciscunt frigida sortem,

Bos, cancer, virgo, capricornus, scorpio, pisces.

Frigida sunt nocti, sed mascula sacra diei.

Ipsa quoque bis anni variantur tempora signis,

Nanque aries, taurus, gemini, sunt sidera veris:

Aestatem cancer, leo trux cum virgine complent:

Scorpius autumnum, & duplici cum lance sagitta:

Inde hyemem pisces, capricornus, aquarius addunt

 

Restat adhuc eadem ternis proportio signis:

Ignea triplicitas aries, fervens leo, Chiron:

Terrea sed taurus, virgo & capricornus habentur:

Aeream sortem chelae, urniger atque gemelli:

Scorpius appropriat, piscesque & cancer aquosam.

Denique cum vegetet communis corpora virtus,

Singula membra tamen quoduis sibi vendicat astrus

Quippe aries capiti, taurus, ceruicibus haeret,

Brachia sub geminis censentur, pectora cancro.

Sorte regit scapulas leo, ventrem atque ilia virgo,

Libra tenet lumbos, & scorpius inguine regnat,

Arcitenens femori, genibus capricornus amator,

Cruraque fusor aquae reficit, vestigia pisces.

 

Et quoniam variae currentes ordine stellae

Corporis aequales spacio, similesque colore,

Haud internosci poterant, solertia sparsas

Struxit in effigiem & variarum membra ferarum,

Imposuit simul iunctis cognomina stellis.

Ad boream geminas ingens Draco diuidit Arctos.

Hinc subit Arctophylax pariterque Corona, Lyraeque

Proximus Engonasis: post hunc ophiuchus et Anguis.

Mox Aquila & Telum surgunt, & lactea Cyngni

Sidera, Pegasus hinc sequitur Delphina, simulque

Andromede, Cepheusque & Cassiopea parentes,

Armatusque gener Perseus; circum ora Medusae

Horrida, Deltoton simul Heniochusque feruntur.

Hinc Aries, taurus, gemini, cancer, leo, virgo,

Libraque scorpius, arcitenens, caper, hydria, pisces.

Cetus & Eridanus post haec vertuntur ad austrum.

Orionque premens Leporem, Procyonque refulgens,

Inde Canis maior stellataque cernitur Argo,

Perque trium loca signorum se porrigit Hydra,

Craterem dorso gestans, Coruumque loquacem.

Hic Fera Centauro resupina tenetur, at ultra

Thuribulum, notiae Piscis fugit astra Coronae.

 

Sunt etiam propriae dictorum sidera partes:

Pleiades in dorso tauri sex esse feruntur,

Fronte sedent Hyades, fundendis imbribus aptae,

Inde Propus pedibus geminorum praevia, sed quae

In cancro nubem referunt, Praesepe vocantur,

Moxque, duo circum Praesepe feruntur Aselli.

Regia stella nitet generosi in corde leonis,

Virginis in summa gestatur Spica sinistra,

Sed Protrygeta subit prope dextram virginis alam.

Quattuor in dextra quae conspiciuntur Aquari,

Urnam: at quae pisces connectunt, Vincula dicunt.

Nodus inest Vinclo: pedibus subiecta Bootae

Arcturi stella insequitur Plaustrumque Bouesque

Postremas Hellices stellas: humeroque sinistro

Heniochi residet sidus pluviale Capellae,

Inque manu laeua geminus discernitur Hoedus.

Ast argo in summa micat inclyta stella Canopi,

Sirius inde Canis fixus maioris in ore.

 

Hinc tibi per medium septem decliue feruntur,

Saturnus, Sol, Luna, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Hermes

Fixa quidem toto circumuoluuntur olympo

Sidera, sed proprios retinent errantia motus:

Semper enim currunt fixis contraria stellis,

Atque domos habitant bissena per astra, suasque

Exercent illic proprio quisque ordine vires.

Luna tenet cancrum, geminos cum virginis astro

Mercurius, tauro & chelis Venus ispa quiescit.

Feruidus inde leo Soli, sed scorpius ardens

Atque Aries Marti cedunt: hinc piscis uterque

Centaurusque Iouem, Saturnum fusor aquarum

Rectorem agnoscit, simul Aegocerotis & astrum.

 

At planetarum in rapidis distantia signis

Dicitur aspectus, quo se impediuntque iuvantque.

Cum duo planetae alterutris distare videntur

Sextam signiferi partem, vel per duo signa,

Aspectus fertur sex angulus: at tria quartam

Zodiaci partem cum stant per signa planetae,

Conspicitur facies quadrangula: tertia sed pars

Signiferi, reddit per quatuor astra trigonum.

Denique per mediam contraria sidera partem

Eminus aspectum soliti firmare planetae:

Ac certis spacijs concurrere rursus eodem

In signo, quoties superi obscurantur ab imis.

Sunt etiam adversa gemini se parte secantes

Orbes, quos faciunt Solis Lunaeque meatus:

Sectio qua Phoebe gelidas ascendit ad arctos,

Haec eadem caput est: sed altera cauda draconis,

Qua Luna imbriferum cursu descendit ad austrum.

 

Accipe quo spacio perlustrent signa planetae:

Saturnus cursum duodena per astra rotatum

Motu retrogrado terdenis conficit annis.

Bissenisque Iouis bissena perambulat astra

Sidus: at ipse duos graditur Mars amplius annos.

Sol in se sua per vestigia colligit annum.

Signa Venus, dubiusque anno minus ampli Hermes,

Sed bis quindennis percurrit Luna diebus.

 

Hinc ortum triplicem nobis posuere priores,

Quo stellae ascendunt, obituque sub aequora pergunt.

Cosmicus exorto stellas cum sole reducit,

Cum simul adversae tingunt se Tethyos undis.

Occiduo Chronicus surgentes cernit horizon

Sole & in opposita stellas regione cadentes.

Quin ubi Phoebus equis summo procul axe recessit,

Incipiunt stellae sensim aparere minores.

Mox cum sol propior flammis opera omnia lustrat,

Astra polo fugiunt, quorum simul agmina cogit

Lucifer & coeli statione nouissimus exit.

 

Ut stellae in longum primo distare videntur

Arietis a puncto, sic has ecliptica monstrat

Linea signiferi in latum cessisse. Per axem

Et fortunatas quae transit linea terras,

Inde quidem trahitur distantia longa locorum:

Sed spacium latum est, quod ab aequatore recedit,

Atque poli gradibus respondet ubique levati.

Declinat sidus, cum distat ab aequidiali,

Eleuat, ex imo quod in altum mittit horizon.

 

Messembrinorum quiuis semisse recepto,

Quindeniue gradus, respondent protinus horae

Unius spacio: sex & triginta feruntur:

Quisque gradus denos retinet, quantoque recedit

Longius a medio noctes aequante diesque

Orbe, magis coiens geminum decrescit ad axem,

Aestiuosque dies numerosis explicat horis.

At gradus in longum sub cyclo scilicet aequo:

In latum, stadijs respondet ubique locorum

Quingentis, quoru spacia baec tibi carmina signant

(Quatuor ex granis digitus formabitur unus.

Est quater in palmo digitus, quater in pede palmus:

Quinque pedes passum faciunt, passus quoque centum

Quinque & viceni stadium dant: sed miliare

Octo dabunt stadia, & duplatum dat tibi leucam.)

Milleque bis decies passus nunc iura diurnum

Constituere viae spacium: miliaria forte

Quattuor, exiguoue minus nostratia reddunt.

 

Inferior mundus tellure & aqua, aere & igne,

Dicitur ex primus rerum consistere causis:

Ex quibus assiduis vicibus modo cuncta creantur,

In quae iterum, quicquid natum est, natura resoluit.

Aeris aethereo vis est stabilita sub igne,

Quae sibi dissimilis triplici regione notatur,

Summa calet, media est gelidissima, proxima utruque

Aestatem ac frigus diverso tempore sentit.

Quippe vapor duplex ascendit in aera, primus,

Crassus & humidior propria gravitate tenetur:

Aridus atque calens, fine pondere prosilit alter.

Ex humente quidem concrescere saepe feruntur

Hybernaeque niues, matutinaeque pruinae,

Largior & crassis descendens nubibus imber,

Roresque nebulaeque & mista grandine nimbi.

E sicco alterna generantur sorte vapore,

Fulgura cum tonitru, rapidi cum fulmine venti.

 

Nomina ventorum posthac patriamque docebo:

Quattuor oppositis veniunt e partibus orbis,

Quos circum varij dextra laeuaque feruntur,

Impelluntque leues adversis flatibus auras.

Frigidus a summo descendit Aparctias axe,

Circius ad zephyru, Boreas hunc cingit ad ortum.

Auster ab adverso pluvias inducit olympo,

Ab Lybe qui dictum, dictum quoque spectat ab Euro.

Insuper & verno flat Subsolanus ab ortu,

Solstitium huic sociat retrahentem nubila ventum.

Brumalesque tropae violentum flatibus Eurum.

Occiduo Zephyrus de cardine spirat, acipsum

Africus hyberno contigit sole cadente,

Ac simul Argestes aestiuo solstitiali.

 

Tempus & ad solidam propius descendere terra,

Quae centro in medio penitus firmata quiescit.

At circum roseis sol vectus ubique quadrigis,

Exortu lucem, discessu procreat umbram.

Eclipsimque facit, si quando corpora lunae

Obiectu terrae redijs intacta relinquit.

Oppositisque leuem pingit sub nubibus Irim.

Nec dum etiam solitas diversis mensibus anni

Continuare vices, variasque novare locorum

Perpetuo cessat motus discriminae formas.

 

Long a parallelis est subita terra duobus,

Unde dies mediam ab reliqua distinguitur horam:

Climaque in oppositis memoratur partibus orbis.

Atque hinc per Meroen, per niloticamque Syenem,

Et per Alexandri, rhodij quoque Apollinis urbes,

Perque Hellespontum atque Borysthenis ostia currunt,

Ripheasque arces, quibus additur ultima Thule.

Inde per antithesim contraria climata longas

Imparibus spacijs variant noctesque diesque.

Quinetiam tellus varia ratione vocatur,

Insula, continuum simul & peninsula, & isthmus.

Aequoreos itidem fluctus, quibus abditus orbis,

Oceanum appellant, pelagusque sinumque, fretumque.

[kkokkolis]

Στήριξη Brashear, 1900

Στερεοσκοπική κάρτα Holmes

[kkokkolis]

The Elephant in the Moon, Samuel Butler, 1612-1680

 

A learn'd society of late,

The glory of a foreign state,

Agreed, upon a summer's night,

To search the Moon by her own light;

To take an invent'ry of all

Her real estate and personal;

And Make an accurate survey

Of all her lands, and how they lay,

As true as that of Ireland, where

The sly surveyors stole a shire:

T' observe her country, how 'twas planted,

With what sh' abounded most, or wanted;

And make the proper'st observations

For settling of new plantations,

If the Society should incline

T' attempt so glorious a design.

This was the purpose of their meeting,

For which they chose a time as fitting,

When, at the full, her radiant light

And influence too were at their height.

And now the lofty tube, the scale

With which they heav'n itself assail,

Was mounted full against the Moon,

And all stood ready to fall on:

Impatient who should have the honour

To plant an ensign first upon her.

When one, who for his deep belief

Was virtuoso then in chief,

Approv'd the most profound, and wise,

To solve impossibilities,

Advancing gravely, to apply

To th' optic glass his judging eye,

Cry'd, Strange !then reinforc'd his sight

Against the Moon with all his might,

And bent his penetrating brow,

As if he meant to gaze her through;

When all the rest began t' admire,

And, like a train, from him took fire,

Surpris'd with wonder, beforehand,

At what they did not understand,

Cry'd out, impatient to know what

The matter was they wonder'd at.

Quoth he, Th' inhabitants o' th' Moon,

Who, when the Sun shines hot at noon,

Do live in cellars under ground,

Of eight miles deep and eighty round,

(In which at once they fortify

Against the sun and th' enemy),

Which they count towns and cities there,

Because their people 's civiler

Than those rude peasants that are found

To live upon the upper ground,

Call'd Privolvans, with whom they are

Perpetually in open war;

And now both armies, highly' enrag'd,

Are in a bloody fight engag'd,

And many fall on both sides slain,

As by the glass 'tis clear and plain.

Look quickly then, that every one

May see the fight before 'tis done.

With that a great philosopher,

Admir'd and famous far and near,

As one of singular invention,

But universal comprehension,

Apply'd one eye, and half a nose,

Unto the optic engine close:

For he had lately undertook

To prove, and publish in a book,

That men, whose nat'ral eyes are out,

May, by more pow'rful art, be brought

To see with th' empty holes, as plain,

As if their eyes were in again;

And if they chanc'd to fail of those,

To make an optic of a nose,

As clearly' it may, by those that wear

But spectacles, be made appear,

By which both senses being united,

Does render them much better sighted.

This great man, having fixt both sights

To view the formidable fights,

Observ'd his best, and then cry'd out,

The battle 's desperately fought;

The gallant Subvolvani rally,

And from their trenches make a sally

Upon the stubborn enemy,

Who now begin to rout and fly.

These silly ranting Privolvans

Have every summer their campaigns,

And muster, like the warlike sons

Of Raw-head and of Bloody-bones,

As numerous as Soland geese

I' th' islands of the Orcades,

Courageously to make a stand,

And face their neighbours hand to hand,

Until the long'd-for winter's come,

And then return in triumph home,

And spend the rest o' th' year in lies,

And vap'ring of their victories.

From th' old Arcadians they 're believ'd

To be, before the Moon, deriv'd,

And, when her orb was new created,

To people her were thence translated:

For as th' Arcadians were reputed

Of all the Grecians the most stupid,

Whom nothing in the world could bring

To civil life but fiddleing,

They still retain the antique course

And custom of their ancestors,

And always sing and fiddle to

Things of the greatest weight they do.

While thus the learn'd man entertains

Th' assembly with the Privolvans,

Another, of as great renown,

And solid judgment, in the Moon,

That understood her various soils,

And which produc'd best genet-moyles,

And in the register of fame

Had enter'd his long-living name,

After he had por'd long and hard

I' th' engine, gave a start, and star'd

Quoth he, A stranger sight appears

Than e'er was seen in all the spheres!

A wonder more unparallel'd,

Than ever mortal tube beheld;

An elephant from one of those

Two mighty armies is broke loose,

And with the horror of the fight

Appears amaz'd, and in a fright:

Look quickly, lest the sight of us

Should cause the startled beast t' imboss.

It is a large one, far more great

Than e'er was bred in Afric yet

From which we boldly may infer

The Moon is much the fruitfuller.

And since the mighty Pyrrhus brought

Those living castles first, 'tis thought,

Against the Romans, in the field,

It may an argument be held,

(Arcadia being but a piece,

As his dominions were, of Greece,)

To prove what this illustrious person

Has made so noble a discourse on,

And amply satisfy'd us all

Of th' Privolvans' original.

That Elephants are in the Moon,

Though we had now discover'd none,

Is easily made manifest,

Since, from the greatest to the least,

All other stars and constellations

Have cattle of all sorts of nations,

And heaven, like a Tartar's horde,

With great and numerous droves is stor'd:

And if the Moon produce by Nature

A people of so vast a stature,

'Tis consequent she should bring forth

Far greater beasts, too, than the earth,

(As by the best accounts appears

Of all our great'st discoverers),

And that those monstrous creatures there

Are not such rarities as here.

Meanwhile the rest had had a sight

Of all particulars o' th' fight,

And ev'ry man, with equal care,

Perus'd of th' Elephant his share,

Proud of his int'rest in the glory

Of so miraculous a story;

When one, who for his excellence

In height'ning words, and shad'wing sense,

And magnifying all he writ

With curious microscopic wit,

Was magnify'd himself no less

In home and foreign colleges,

Began, transported with the twang

Of his own trill, thus t' harangue.

Most excellent and virtuous Friends,

This great discov'ry makes amends

For all our unsuccessful pains,

And lost expense of time and brains:

For by this sole phenomenon

We've gotten ground upon the Moon,

And gain'd a pass to hold dispute

With all the planets that stand out;

To carry this most virtuous war

Home to the door of every star,

And plant th' artillery of our tubes

Against their proudest magnitudes;

To stretch our victories beyond

Th' extent of planetary ground,

And fix our engines, and our ensigns,

Upon the fixt stars' vast dimensions,

(Which Archimede, so long ago,

Durst not presume to wish to do),

And prove if they are other suns,

As some have held opinions,

Or windows in the empyreum,

From whence those bright effluvias come

Like flames of fire (as others guess)

That shine i' the mouths of furnaces.

Nor is this all we have achiev'd,

But more, henceforth to be believ'd,

And have no more our best designs,

Because they're ours, believ'd ill signs.

T' out-throw, and stretch, and to enlarge,

Shall now no more be laid t' our charge;

Nor shall our ablest virtuosos

Prove arguments for coffee-houses;

Nor those devices that are laid

Too truly on us, nor those made

Hereafter, gain belief among

Our strictest judges, right or wrong;

Nor shall our past misfortunes more

Be charged upon the ancient score;

No more our making old dogs young

Make men suspect us still i' th' wrong;

Nor new-invented chariots draw

The boys to course us without law;

Nor putting pigs t' a bitch to nurse,

To turn them into mongrel-curs,

Make them suspect our skulls are brittle,

And hold too much wit or too little;

tenor shall our speculations, whether

An elder-stick will save the leather

Of school-boys' breeches from the rod,

Make all we do appear as odd,

This one discovery's enough

To take all former scandals off

But since the world's incredulous

Of all our scrutinies, and us,

And with a prejudice prevents

Our best and worst experiments, :so

(As if th' were destin'd to miscarry,

In consort try'd, or solitary),

And since it is uncertain when

Such wonders will occur agen,

Let us as cautiously contrive

To draw an exact Narrative

Of what we every one can swear

Our eyes themselves have seen appear,

That, when we publish the Account,

We all may take our oaths upon 't.

This said, they all with one consent

Agreed to draw up th' Instrument,

And, for the general satisfaction,

To print it in the next 'Transaction.'

But whilst the chiefs were drawing up

This strange Memoir o th' telescope,

One, peeping in the tube by chance,

Beheld the Elephant advance,

And from the west side of the Moon

To th' east was in a moment gone.

This being related, gave a stop

To what the rest were drawing up;

And every man, amazed anew

How it could possibly be true,

That any beast should run a race

So monstrous, in so short a space,

Resolv'd, howe'er, to make it good,

At least as possible as he could,

And rather his own eyes condemn,

Than question what he had seen with them.

While all were thus resolv'd, a man

Of great renown there thus began

'Tis strange, I grant ! but who can say

What cannot be, what can, and may ?

Especially at so hugely vast

A distance as this wonder's plac'd,

Where the least error of the sight

May shew things false, but never right;

Nor can we try them, so far off,

By any sublunary proof:

For who can say that Nature there

Has the same laws she goes by here ?

Nor is it like she has infus'd,

In every species there produc'd,

The same efforts she does confer

Upon the same productions here;

Since those with us, of several nations,

Have such prodigious variations,

And she affects so much to use

Variety in all she does.

Hence may b' inferr'd that, though I grant

We'ave seen i' th' Moon an Elephant,

That Elephant may differ so

From those upon the earth below,

Both in his bulk, and force, and speed,

As being of a different breed,

That though our own are but slow-pac'd,

Theirs there may fly, or run as fast,

And yet be Elephants, no less

Than those of Indian pedigrees.

This said, another of great worth,

Fam'd for his learned works put forth,

Look'd wise, then saidAll this is true,

And learnedly observ'd by you;

But there 's another reason for 't,

That falls but very little short

Of mathematic demonstration,

Upon an accurate calculation,

And that isAs the earth and moon

Do both move contrary upon

Their axes, the rapidity

Of both their motions cannot be

But so prodigiously fast,

That vaster spaces may be past

In less time than the beast has gone,

Though h' had no motion of his own,

Which we can take no measure of,

As you have clear'd by learned proof.

This granted, we may boldly thence

Lay claim t'a nobler inference,

And make this great phenomenon,

(Were there no other), serve alone

To clear the grand hypothesis

Of th' motion of the earth from this.

With this they all were satisfy'd,

As men are wont o' th' bias'd side,

Applauded the profound dispute,

And grew more gay and resolute,

By having overcome all doubt,

Than if it never had fallen out;

And, to complete their Narrative,

Agreed t' insert this strange retrieve.

But while they were diverted all

With wording the Memorial,

The foot-boys, for diversion too,

As having nothing else to do,

Seeing the telescope at leisure,

Turn'd virtuosos for their pleasure;

Began to gaze upon the Moon,

As those they waited on had done,

With monkeys' ingenuity,

That love to practice what they see;

When one, whose turn it was to peep,

Saw something in the engine creep,

And, viewing well, discover'd more

Than all the learn'd had done before.

Quoth he, A little thing is slunk

Into the long star-gazing trunk,

And now is gotten down so nigh,

I have him just against mine eye.

This being overheard by one

Who was not so far overgrown

In any virtuous speculation,

To judge with mere imagination,

Immediately he made a guess

At solving all appearances,

A way far more significant

Than all their hints of th' Elephant,

And found, upon a second view,

His own hypothesis most true;

For he had scarce apply'd his eye

To th' engine, but immediately

He found a mouse was gotten in

The hollow tube, and, shut between

The two glass windows in restraint,

Was swell'd into an Elephant,

And prov'd the virtuous occasion

Of all this learned dissertation:

And, as a mountain heretofore

Was great with child, they say, and bore

A silly mouse; this mouse, as strange,

Brought forth a mountain in exchange.

Meanwhile the rest in consultation

Had penn'd the wonderful Narration,

And set their hands, and seals, and wit,

T' attest the truth of what they'd writ,

When this accurs'd phenomenon

Confounded all they'd said or done:

For 'twas no sooner hinted at,

But th' all were in a tumult strait,

More furiously enrag'd by far,

Than those that in the Moon made war,

To find so admirable a hint,

When they had all agreed t' have seen 't,

And were engag'd to make it out,

Obstructed with a paltry doubt:

When one, whose task was to determine,

And solve th' appearances of vermin,

Who'd made profound discoveries

In frogs, and toads, and rats, and mice,

(Though not so curious, 'tis true,

As many a wise rat-catcher knew),

After he had with signs made way

For something great he had to say;

This disquisition

Is, half of it, in my discission;

For though the Elephant, as beast,

Belongs of right to all the rest,

The mouse, being but a vermin, none

Has title to but I alone;

And therefore hope I may be heard,

In my own province, with regard.

It is no wonder we're cry'd down,

And made the talk of all the Town,

That rants and swears, for all our great

Attempts, we have done nothing yet,

If every one have leave to doubt,

When some great secret's half made out;

And, 'cause perhaps it is not true,

Obstruct, and ruin all we do.

As no great act was ever done,

Nor ever can, with truth alone,

If nothing else but truth w' allow,

'Tis no great matter what we do:

For truth is too reserv'd, and nice,

T' appear in mix'd societies;

Delights in solit'ry abodes,

And never shows herself in crowds;

A sullen little thing, below

All matters of presence and show;

That deal in novelty and change,

Not of things true, but rare and strange,

To treat the world with what is fit

And proper to its natural wit:

The world, that never sets esteem

On what things are, but what they seem,

And, if they be not strange and new,

They're ne'er the better for being true;

For what has mankind gain'd by knowing

His little truth, but his undoing,

Which wisely was by nature hidden,

And only for his good forbidden ?

And therefore with great prudence does

The world still strive to keep it close;

For if all secret truths were known,

Who would not be once more undone ?

For truth has always danger in 't,

And here, perhaps, may cross some hint

We have already agreed upon,

And vainly frustrate all we've done,

Only to make new work for Stubs,

And all the academic clubs.

How much, then, ought we have a care

That no man know above his share,

Nor dare to understand, henceforth,

More than his contribution's worth;

That those who've purchas'd of the college

A share, or half a share, of knowledge,

And brought in none, but spent repute,

Should not b' admitted to dispute,

Nor any man pretend to know

More than his dividend comes to ?

For partners have been always known

To cheat their public interest prone;

And if we do not look to ours,

'Tis sure to run the self-same course.

This said, the whole assembly allow'd

The doctrine to be right and good,

And, from the truth of what they'd heard,

Resolv'd to give Truth no regard,

But what was for their turn to vouch,

And either find or make it such:

That 'twas more noble to create

Things like Truth, out of strong conceit,

Than with vexatious pains and doubt,

To find, or think t' have found, her out.

This being resolv'd, they, one by one,

Review'd the tube, the Mouse, and Moon;

But still the narrower they pry'd,

The more they were unsatisfy'd,

In no one thing they saw agreeing,

As if they'd several faiths of seeing.

Some swore, upon a second view,

That all they'd seen before was true;

And that they never would recant

One syllable of th' Elephant;

Avow'd his snout could be no Mouse's,

But a true Elephant's proboscis.

Others began to doubt and waver,

Uncertain which o' th' two to favour,

And knew not whether to espouse

The cause of th' Elephant or Mouse.

Some held no way so orthodox

To try it, as the ballot-box,

And, like the nation's patriots,

To find, or make, the truth by votes:

Others conceiv'd it much more fit

T' unmount the tube, and open it,

And, for their private satisfaction,

To re-examine the ' Transaction,'

And after explicate the rest,

As they should find cause for the best.

To this, as th' only expedient,

The whole assembly gave consent,

But, ere the tube was half let down,

It clear'd the first phenomenon:

For, at the end, prodigious swarms

Of flies and gnats, like men in arms,

Had all past muster, by mischance,

Both for the Sub- and Pri-volvans.

This being discover'd, put them all

Into a fresh and fiercer brawl,

Asham'd that men so grave and wise

Should be chaldes'd by gnats and flies,

And take the feeble insects' swarms

For mighty troops of men at arms;

As vain as those who, when the Moon

Bright in a crystal river shone,

Threw casting-nets as subtly at her,

To catch and pull her out o' th' water.

But when they had unscrew'd the glass,

To find out where th' impostor was,

And saw the Mouse, that, by mishap,

Had made the telescope a trap,

Amaz'd, confounded, and afflicted,

To be so openly convicted,

Immediately they get them gone,

With this discovery alone:

That those who greedily pursue

Things wonderful, instead of true;

That in their speculations choose

To make discoveries strange news;

And natural history a Gazette

Of tales stupendous and far-fet;

Hold no truth worthy to be known,

That is not huge and overgrown,

And explicate appearances,

Not as they are, but as they please;

In vain strive Nature to suborn,

And, for their pains, are paid with scorn.

Samuel Butler. 1612-1680

[kkokkolis]

Zeiss 20-24x200, 1942-1945

 

Πατήρ πάντων πόλεμος

[kkokkolis]

Παρατηρητήριο Washburn, Ουϊσκόνσιν, 1881

 

Η κάρτα το απεικονίζει πριν και μετά την καταστροφή από τυφώνα.

[kkokkolis]

Ιαπωνικά διοπτρικά, 18ος αιώνας

Το μεσαίο από τον μεγάλο Zenbei Iwahashi του οποίου το όνομα φέρει ο αστεροειδής 7538 Zenbei

[kkokkolis]

The More Loving One, W.H. Auden, 1957

 

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well

That, for all they care, I can go to hell,

But on earth indifference is the least

We have to dread from man or beast.

 

How should we like it were stars to burn

With a passion for us we could not return?

If equal affection cannot be,

Let the more loving one be me.

 

Admirer as I think I am

Of stars that do not give a damn,

I cannot, now I see them, say

I missed one terribly all day.

 

Were all stars to disappear or die,

I should learn to look at an empty sky

And feel its total darkness sublime,

Though this might take me a little time.

[kkokkolis]

Τηλεσκόπιο Gardam, 19ος αιώνας

[kkokkolis]

Tabulae Rudolphinae: quibus astronomicae, Johannes Kepler, 1571–1630

[kkokkolis]

Άτλας, Rockefeller Center, Νέα Υόρκη, 1930

[kkokkolis]

Αρτ Νουβώ, Rockefeller Center, Νέα Υόρκη, 1930

[kkokkolis]

The Night Has A Thousand Eyes, Francis W. Bourdillon, 1852 – 1921

 

The night has a thousand eyes,

And the day but one;

Yet the light of the bright world dies

With the dying sun.

 

The mind has a thousand eyes,

And the heart but one;

Yet the light of a whole life dies When love is done.