A Budget of Paradoxes Volume I Part 37

[74] Colenso (1814-1883), missionary bishop of Natal, was one of the leaders of his day in the field of higher biblical criticism. De Morgan must have admired his mathematical works, which were not without merit.

[75] Samuel Roffey Maitland, born at London in 1792; died at Gloucester in 1866. He was an excellent linguist and a critical student of the Bible. He became librarian at Lambeth in 1838.

[76] Archbishop Howley (1766-1848) was a thorough Tory. He was one of the opponents of the Roman Catholic Relief bill, the Reform bill, and the Jewish Civil Disabilities Relief bill.

[77] We have, in America at least, almost forgotten the great stir made by Edward B. Pusey (1800-1882) in the great Oxford movement in the middle of the nineteenth century. He was professor of Hebrew at Oxford, and canon of Christ Church.

[78] That is, his _Magia universalis naturae et artis sive recondita naturalium et artificialium rerum scientia_, Wurzburg, 1657, 4to, with editions at Bamberg in 1671, and at Frankfort in 1677. Gaspard Schott (Konigshofen 1608, Wurzburg 1666) was a physicist and mathematician, devoting most of his attention to the curiosities of his sciences. His type of mind must have appealed to De Morgan.

[79] _Salicetti Quadratura circuli nova, perspicua, expedita, veraque tum naturalis, tum geometrica_, etc., 1608.--_Consideratio nova in opusculum Archimedis de circuli dimensione_, etc., 1609.

[80] Melchior Adam, who died at Heidelberg in 1622, wrote a collection of biographies which was published at Heidelberg and Frankfort from 1615 to 1620.

[81] Born at Baden in 1524; died at Basel in 1583. The Erastians were related to the Zwinglians, and opposed all power of excommunication and the infliction of penalties by a church.

[82] See Acts xii. 20.

[83] Theodore de Bese, a French theologian; born at Vezelay, in Burgundy, in 1519; died at Geneva, in 1605.

[84] Dr. Robert Lee (1804-1868) had some celebrity in De Morgan's time through his attempt to introduce music and written prayers into the service of the Scotch Presbyterian church.

[85] Born at Veringen, Hohenzollern, in 1512; died at Roteln in 1564.

[86] Born at Kinnairdie, Bannfshire, in 1661; died at London in 1708. His _Astronomiae Physicae et Geometriae Elementa_, Oxford, 1702, was an influential work.

[87] The t.i.tle was carelessly copied by De Morgan, not an unusual thing in his case. The original reads: A Plaine Discovery, of the whole Revelation of S. Iohn: set downe in two treatises ... set foorth by John Napier L. of Marchiston ... whereunto are annexed, certaine Oracles of Sibylla ...

London ... 1611.

[88] I have not seen the first edition, but it seems to have appeared in Edinburgh, in 1593, with a second edition there in 1594. The 1611 edition was the third.

[89] It seems rather certain that Napier felt his theological work of greater importance than that in logarithms. He was born at Merchiston, near (now a part of) Edinburgh, in 1550, and died there in 1617, three years after the appearance of his _Mirifici logarithmorum canonis descriptio_.

[90] Followed, in the third edition, from which he quotes, by a comma.

[91] There was an edition published at Stettin in 1633. An English translation by P. F. Mottelay appeared at London in 1893. Gilbert (1540-1603) was physician to Queen Elizabeth and President of the College of Physicians at London. His _De Magnete_ was the first noteworthy treatise on physics printed in England. He treated of the earth as a spherical magnet and suggested the variation and declination of the needle as a means of finding lat.i.tude at sea.

[92] The t.i.tle says "ab authoris fratre collectum," although it was edited by J. Gruterus.

[93] Porta was born at Naples in 1550 and died there in 1615. He studied the subject of lenses and the theory of sight, did some work in hydraulics and agriculture, and was well known as an astrologer. His _Magiae naturalis libri XX_ was published at Naples in 1589. The above t.i.tle should read _curvilineorum_.

[94] Cataldi was born in 1548 and died at Bologna in 1626. He was professor of mathematics at Perugia, Florence, and Bologna, and is known in mathematics chiefly for his work in continued fractions. He was one of the scholarly men of his day.

[95] Georg Joachim Rheticus was born at Feldkirch in 1514 and died at Caschau, Hungary, in 1576. He was one of the most prominent pupils of Copernicus, his _Narratio de libris revolutionum Copernici_ (Dantzig, 1540) having done much to make the theory of his master known.

[96] Henry Briggs, who did so much to make logarithms known, and who used the base 10, was born at Warley Wood, in Yorkshire, in 1560, and died at Oxford in 1630. He was Savilian professor of mathematics at Oxford, and his grave may still be seen there.

[97] He lived at "Reggio nella Emilia" in the 16th and 17th centuries. His _Regola e modo facilissimo di quadrare il cerchio_ was published at Reggio in 1609.

[98] Christoph Klau (Clavius) was born at Bamberg in 1537, and died at Rome in 1612. He was a Jesuit priest and taught mathematics in the Jesuit College at Rome. He wrote a number of works on mathematics, including excellent text-books on arithmetic and algebra.

[99] Christopher Gruenberger, or Grienberger, was born at Halle in Tyrol in 1561, and died at Rome in 1636. He was, like Clavius, a Jesuit and a mathematician, and he wrote a little upon the subject of projections. His _Prospectiva nova coelestis_ appeared at Rome in 1612.

[100] The name should, of course, be Lansbergii in the genitive, and is so in the original t.i.tle. Philippus Lansbergius was born at Ghent in 1560, and died at Middelburg in 1632. He was a Protestant theologian, and was also a physician and astronomer. He was a well-known supporter of Galileo and Copernicus. His _Commentationes in motum terrae diurnum et annuum_ appeared at Middelburg in 1630 and did much to help the new theory.

[101] I have never seen the work. It is rare.

[102] The African explorer, born in Somersetshire in 1827, died at Bath in 1864. He was the first European to cross Central Africa from north to south. He investigated the sources of the Nile.

[103] Prester (Presbyter, priest) John, the legendary Christian king whose realm, in the Middle Ages, was placed both in Asia and in Africa, is first mentioned in the chronicles of Otto of Freisingen in the 12th century. In the 14th century his kingdom was supposed to be Abyssinia.

[104] "It is a profane and barbarous nation, dirty and slovenly, who eat their meat half raw and drink mare's milk, and who use table-cloths and napkins only to wipe their hands and mouths."

[105] "The great Prester John, who is the fourth in rank, is emperor of Ethiopia and of the Abyssinians, and boasts of his descent from the race of David, as having descended from the Queen of Sheba, Queen of Ethiopia. She, having gone to Jerusalem to see the wisdom of Solomon, about the year of the world 2952, returned pregnant with a son whom they called Moylech, from whom they claim descent in a direct line. And so he glories in being the most ancient monarch in the world, saying that his empire has endured for more than three thousand years, which no other empire is able to a.s.sert. He also puts into his t.i.tles the following: 'We, the sovereign in my realms, uniquely beloved of G.o.d, pillar of the faith, sprung from the race of Judah, etc.' The boundaries of this empire touch the Red Sea and the mountains of Azuma on the east, and on the western side it is bordered by the River Nile which separates it from Nubia. To the north lies Egypt, and to the south the kingdoms of Congo and Mozambique. It extends forty degrees in length, or one thousand twenty-five leagues, from Congo or Mozambique on the south to Egypt on the north; and in width it reaches from the Nile on the west to the mountains of Azuma on the east, seven hundred twenty-five leagues, or twenty-nine degrees. This empire contains thirty large provinces, namely Medra, Gaga, Alchy, Cedalon, Mantro, Finazam, Barnaquez, Ambiam, Fungy, Angote, Cigremaon, Gorga, Cafatez, Zastanla, Zeth, Barly, Belangana, Tygra, Gorgany, Barganaza, d'Ancut, Dargaly, Ambiacatina, Caracogly, Amara, Maon (_sic_), Guegiera, Bally, Dobora, and Macheda. All of these provinces are situated directly under the equinoctial line between the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer; but they are two hundred fifty leagues nearer our tropic than the other. The name of Prester John signifies Great Lord, and is not Priest [Presbyter] as many think. He has always been a Christian, but often schismatic. At the present time he is a Catholic and recognizes the Pope as sovereign pontiff. I met one of his bishops in Jerusalem, and often conversed with him through the medium of our guide. He was of grave and serious bearing, pleasant of speech, but wonderfully subtle in everything he said. He took great delight in what I had to relate concerning our beautiful ceremonies and the dignity of our prelates in their pontifical vestments. As to other matters I will only say that the Ethiopian is joyous and merry, not at all like the Tartar in the matter of filth, nor like the wretched Arab. They are refined and subtle, trusting no one, wonderfully suspicious, and very devout. They are not at all black as is commonly supposed, by which I refer to those who do not live under the equator or too near to it, for these are Moors as we shall see."

With respect to this translation it should be said that the original forms of the proper names have been preserved, although they are not those found in modern works. It should also be stated that the meaning of Prester is not the one that was generally accepted by scholars at the time the work was written, nor is it the one accepted to-day. There seems to be no doubt that the word is derived from Presbyter as stated in note 103 on page 71, since the above-mentioned chronicles of Otto, bishop of Freisingen about the middle of the twelfth century, states this fact clearly. Otto received his information from the bishop of Gabala (the Syrian Jibal) who told him the story of John, _rex et sacerdos_, or Presbyter John as he liked to be called. He goes on to say "Should it be asked why, with all this power and splendor, he calls himself merely 'presbyter,' this is because of his humility, and because it was not fitting for one whose server was a primate and king, whose butler an archbishop and king, whose chamberlain a bishop and king, whose master of the horse an archimandrite and king, whose chief cook an abbot and king, to be called by such t.i.tles as these."

[106] Thomas Fienus (Fyens) was born at Antwerp in 1567 and died in 1631.

He was professor of medicine at Louvain. Besides the editions mentioned below, his _De cometis anni 1618_ appeared at Leipsic in 1656. He also wrote a _Disputatio an coelum moveatur et terra quiescat_, which appeared at Antwerp in 1619, and again at Leipsic in 1656.

[107] Libertus Fromondus (1587-c 1653), a Belgian theologian, dean of the College Church at Harcourt, and professor at Louvain. The name also appears as Froidmont and Froimont.

[108] _L. Fromondi ... meteorologicorum libri s.e.x.... Cui accessit T. Fieni et L. Fromondi dissertationes de cometa anni 1618...._ This is from the 1670 edition. The 1619 edition was published at Antwerp. The _Meteorologicorum libri VI_, appeared at Antwerp in 1627. He also wrote _Anti-Aristarchus sive orbis terrae immobilis liber unicus_ (Antwerp, 1631); _Labyrrinthus sive de compositione continui liber unus, Philosophis, Mathematicis, Theologis utilis et jucundus_ (Antwerp, 1631) and _Vesta sive Anti-Aristarchi vindex adversus Jac. Lansbergium (Philippi filium) et copernicanos_ (Antwerp, 1634).

[109] Snell was born at Leyden in 1591, and died there in 1626. He studied under Tycho Brahe and Kepler, and is known for Snell's law of the refraction of light. He was the first to determine the size of the earth by measuring the arc of a meridian with any fair degree of accuracy. The t.i.tle should read: _Willebrordi Snellii R. F. Cyclometricus, de circuli dimensione secundum Logistarum abacos, et ad Mechanicem accuratissima...._

[110] Bacon was born at York House, London, in 1561, and died near Highgate, London, in 1626. His _Novum Organum Scientiarum or New Method of employing the reasoning faculties in the pursuits of Truth_ appeared at London in 1620. He had previously published a work ent.i.tled _Of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning, divine and humane_ (London, 1605), which again appeared in 1621. His _De augmentis scientiarum Libri IX_ appeared at Paris in 1624, and his _Historia naturalis et experimentalis de ventis_ at Leyden in 1638. He was successively solicitor general, attorney general, lord chancellor (1619), Baron Verulam and Viscount St. Albans. He was deprived of office and was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1621, but was later pardoned.

[111] The Greek form, _Organon_, is sometimes used.

[112] James Spedding (1808-1881), fellow of Cambridge, who devoted his life to his edition of Bacon.

[113] R. Leslie Ellis (1817-1859), editor of the _Cambridge Mathematical Journal_. He also wrote on Roman aqueducts, on Boole's Laws of Thought, and on the formation of a Chinese dictionary.

[114] Douglas Derion Heath (1811-1897), a cla.s.sical and mathematical scholar.

[115] There have been numerous editions of Bacon's complete works, including the following: Frankfort, 1665; London, 1730, 1740, 1764, 1765, 1778, 1803, 1807, 1818, 1819, 1824, 1825-36, 1857-74, 1877. The edition to which De Morgan refers is that of 1857-74, 14 vols., of which five were apparently out at the time he wrote. There were also French editions in 1800 and 1835.

[116] So in the original for Tycho Brahe.

[117] In general these men acted before Baron wrote, or at any rate, before he wrote the _Novum Organum_, but the statement must not be taken too literally. The dates are as follows: Copernicus, 1473-1543; Tycho Brahe, 1546-1601; Gilbert, 1540-1603; Kepler, 1571-1630; Galileo, 1564-1642; Harvey, 1578-1657. For example, Harvey's _Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis_ did not appear until 1628, and his _Exercitationes de Generatione_ until 1651.

[118] Robert Hooke (1635-1703) studied under Robert Boyle at Oxford. He was "Curator of Experiments" to the Royal Society and its secretary, and was professor of geometry at Gresham College, London. It is true that he was "very little of a mathematician" although he wrote on the motion of the earth (1674), on helioscopes and other instruments (1675), on the rotation of Jupiter (1666), and on barometers and sails.

[119] The son of the Sir William mentioned below. He was born in 1792 and died in 1871. He wrote a treatise on light (1831) and one on astronomy (1836), and established an observatory at the Cape of Good Hope where he made observations during 1834-1838, publishing them in 1847. On his return to England he was knighted, and in 1848 was made president of the Royal Society. The t.i.tle of the work to which reference is made is: _A preliminary discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy_. It appeared at London in 1831.

[120] Sir William was horn at Hanover in 1738 and died at Slough, near Windsor in 1822. He discovered the planet Ura.n.u.s and six satellites, besides two satellites of Saturn. He was knighted by George III.

[121] This was the work of 1836. He also published a work ent.i.tled _Outlines of Astronomy_ in 1849.