beginning
one of the first persons that realised the sun was at the centre of the solar system shared almost the same name as the head librarian of the library of alexandria
Aristarchus of Samothrace – head librarian of alexandria
Aristarchus of Samos – estimated that the sun was 7 times larger than the earth and concluded that the greater size made it the most natural central point of the universe as opposed to earth.
the library of alexandria was burned
and so was giordano bruno in 1600, who publicized his belief that the earth revolved around the sun. he promoted a society modeled on love and shared human dignity
did you know that the roman emperor Nero liked to watch gladiator fights through cut emeralds?
this may have been one of the more earlier sophisticated versions of sun glasses
it has been suggested that Nero was a shortsighted man and this emerald was formed like a concave lens
there is a film about gemstones
the score is composed by a musician who studied library sciences
the opening sequence of the film takes place roughly 500km from where the library of alexandria existed, in an opal mine in Ethiopia
when an opal is observed, a variety of colors are seen due to the structure of the silica which compose the opal. the silica is essentially arranged as small spheres in a closely packed, regular arrangement- with spacing approximately 150 to 300 nanoemtres, approximately half the wavelength of visible light.
the colors observed are due to the angle of observation, with respect to the structure of the opal
as an opal is turned, the same spot may take on different colors depending on how light interacts with the structure. opal crystals can be used to create photonic qubits which are essential for quantum information processing.
they are currently being researched for their potential use in photonic computing
this is a photonic controlled not gate
leibniz refined the binary number system of which logic gates are derived
he was inspired by the I Ching, a divination tool from China
Joachim Bouvet sent it to Leibniz
what leibniz noticed about the structure is very interesting
he noticed that the structure of the 64 hexagrams is binary – broken lines and unbroken lines. all of their differences are inscribed simply by varying the number and the position of broken and unbroken lines within the hexagrams
leibniz suggested the theory that the universe is made of an infinite number of simple substances. the diagrams of the Yijing only served to reaffirm for Leibniz that a system of “ones” and “zeros” capable of expressing any possible value only served to show how God could create the universe from “unity” and “nothingness.”
“unum necessarium” says leibniz
leibniz was wrong about the meaning of the broken and unbroken lines but he had an agenda driving him
Leibniz wanted to fit the sum of all of human inquiry across all cultures into his own metaphysical world view through a system of 1s and 0s- a perfect language. He wanted to propagate his Roman Christian theological interpretation of the trinity. Through the Yijing, he became involved with the jesuits hopes to convert the chinese people to christianity.
but the Yijing represents and signifies the divine through the concept of yin and yang.
and now the Yijing’s mythic meanings are connected to the origins of the digital computing
there is a latin phrase Nihil admirari.
many romans believed that the great fire of Rome was instigated by Nero- who accused Christians as scapegoats for the fire and had them burned alive, just like later Christians would burn alive Giordano Bruno. this was the first state-sponsored persecution of Christians, setting a precedent for widespread executions.
crowds treated these executions as entertainment, where christian prisoners were often made to die during public games or dramatic displays
the prophet of fire, heraclitus
it has nothing to do with burning each other