On the Apparent Magnitude of the Sun when Low and High

to be sufficient or suitable for uncovering the truth. He himself taught us by his own example what kind of freedom those should have who seek a matter so noble and yet so hidden. Indeed, seekers should be considered lucky if they can grasp even a shadow of the truth. Therefore, I would not want you to imagine that I consider anything I bring forth from elsewhere to be entirely exceptional. However I may speak, my intention is not to go beyond the boundaries of probability probabilitas: in 17th-century science, this refers to a theory that is likely to be true based on available evidence, even if it cannot be proven with absolute certainty. Truth I leave to the Gods and the sons of the Gods, as Plato used to say original: "Veritatem Diis, Deorumque filiis, ut loquebatur Plato". This likely refers to a sentiment in Plato's Timaeus regarding the limitations of human knowledge compared to divine understanding.. For me it is enough, and more than enough, if I am allowed to choose from among many likely things that which bears a greater resemblance to the truth. But lest time be wasted in prefacing, let us come to the matter itself.

II. It seems the beginning should be taken from the observation which gave rise to the problem. It is because of this observation that I owe you a debt. Although the experiments did not succeed for you and your friends, you nevertheless thought that trust should be given to me, as I have performed the test quite often. And indeed, since nothing is more important to me than truthfulness, I would never sell an unexplored thing as if it were fully explored. You have clearly sensed that the variation in the width of the shadow is very small. There is a need for exquisite diligence in recording it.

Accept my observation, whatever its worth may be. I had a Royal Foot, also known as the Parisian Foot, accurately divided. This foot is such that 906 of its parts equal 1000 parts of the ancient Roman foot. I divided it into twelve inches original: "digitos", literally digits or finger-breadths. I divided each inch into twelve lines, as they call them. Finally, I divided each line into twelve small parts using transverse markings. Consequently, the total number of these small parts in a foot was 1,728 Gassendi is using a base-12 system of measurement: 12 inches x 12 lines x 12 particles = 1,728 units per foot.. Afterwards, having measured a small beam according to a line...