The Sleepwalkers (7 page)

It
is
not
easy
to
see
how
the
whole
thing
works,
but
it
is
the
first
approach
to
a
mechanical
model
of
the
universe.
The
boat
of
the
sun
god
is
replaced
by
the
wheels
of
a
clockwork.
Yet
the
machinery
looks
as
if
it
had
been
dreamed
up
by
a
surrealist
painter;
the
punctured
fire-wheels
are
certainly
closer
to
Picasso
than
to
Newton.
As
we
move
along
past
other
cosmologies,
we
shall
get
this
impression
over
and
again.

The
system
of
Anaximenes,
who
was
an
associate
of
Anaximander,
is
less
inspired;
but
he
seems
to
have
been
the
originator
of
the
important
idea
that
the
stars
are
attached
"like
nails"
to
a
transparent
sphere
of
crystalline
material,
which
turns
round
the
earth
"like
a
hat
round
the
head".
It
sounded
so
plausible
and
convincing,
that
the
crystal
spheres
were
to
dominate
cosmology
until
the
beginning
of
modern
times.

The
Ionian
philosophers'
home
was
Miletos
in
Asia
Minor;
but
there
existed
rival
schools
in
the
Greek
towns
of
Southern
Italy,
and
rival
theories
within
each
school.
The
founder
of
the
Eleatic
school,
Xenophanes
of
Kolophon,
is
a
sceptic
who
wrote
poetry
to
the
age
of
ninety-two,
and
sounds
as
if
he
had
served
as
a
model
for
the
author
of
Ecclesiastes:

"From
earth
are
all
things
and
to
earth
all
things
return.
From
earth
and
water
come
all
of
us...
No
man
hath
certainly
known,
nor
shall
certainly
know,
that
which
he
saith
about
the
gods
and
about
all
things;
for,
be
that
which
he
saith
ever
so
perfect,
yet
does
he
not
know
it;
all
things
are
matters
of
opinion...
Men
imagine
gods
to
be
born,
and
to
have
clothes
and
voices
and
shapes
like
theirs...
Yea,
the
gods
of
the
Ethiopians
are
black
and
flat-nosed,
the
gods
of
the
Thracians
are
red-haired
and
blue-eyed...
Yea,
if
oxen
and
horses
and
lions
had
hands,
and
could
shape
with
their
hands
images
as
men
do,
horses
would
fashion
their
gods
as
horses,
and
oxen
as
oxen...
Homer
and
Hesiod
have
ascribed
to
the
gods
all
things
that
are
a
shame
and
a
disgrace
among
men,
theft,
adultery,
deceit,
and
other
lawless
acts..."

As
against this:

"There
is
one
God
...
neither
in
shape
nor
thought
like
unto
mortals...
He
abideth
ever
in
the
same
place
motionless
...
and
without
effort
swayeth
all
things
by
his
force
of
mind..."
⁵

The
Ionians
were
optimistic,
heathenly
materialists;
Xenophanes
was
a
pantheist
of
a
sorrowful
brand,
to
whom
change
was
an
illusion,
and
effort
vanity.
His
cosmology
reflects
his
philosophical
temper;
it
is
radically
different
from
the
Ionians'.
His
earth
is
not
a
floating
disc,
or
column,
but
is
"rooted
in
the
infinite".
The
sun
and
the
stars
have
neither
substance
nor
permanence,
they
are
merely
cloudy
exhalations
of
the
earth
which
have
caught
fire.
The
stars
are
burnt
out
at
dawn,
and
in
the
evening
a
new
set
of
stars
is
formed
from
new
exhalations.
Similarly,
a
new
sun
is
born
every
morning
from
the
crowding
together
of
sparks.
The
moon
is
a
compressed,
luminous
cloud,
which
dissolves
in
a
month;
then
a
new
cloud
starts
forming.
Over
different
regions
of
the
earth,
there
are
different
suns
and
moons,
all
cloudy
illusions.

In
this
manner
do
the
earliest
rational
theories
of
the
Universe
betray
the
bias
and
temperament
of
their
makers.
It
is
generally
believed
that
with
the
progress
of
scientific
method,
the
theories
became
more
objective
and
reliable.
Whether
this
belief
is
justified,
we
shall
see.
But
à
propos
of
Xenophanes
we
may
note
that
two
thousand
years
later
Galileo
also
insisted
on
regarding
comets
as
atmospheric
illusions
–
for
purely
personal
reasons,
and
against
the
evidence
of
his
telescope.

Neither
the
cosmology
of
Anaxagoras,
nor
of
Xenophanes,
gained
a
considerable
following.
Every
philosopher
of
the
period
seems
to
have
had
his
own
theory
regarding
the
nature
of
the
universe
around
him.
To
quote
Professor
Burnet,
"no
sooner
did
an
Ionian
philosopher
learn
half
a
dozen
geometrical
propositions
and
hear
that
the
phenomena
of
the
heavens
recur
in
cycles
than
he
set
to
work
to
look
for
law
everywhere
in
nature
and
with
an
audacity
amounting
to
hybris
to
construct
a
system
of
the
universe."
⁶
But
their
diverse
speculations
had
this
one
feature
in
common,
that
the
sun-eating
serpents
and
Olympian
stringpullers
were
discarded;
each
theory,
however
strange
and
bizarre,
was
concerned
with
natural
causes.