The glittering stars fill us with joy and inspiration, yet in the canopy of heaven all bodies revolve in mathematical figures.
In plain words
Stars are beautiful to look at, and they also move by exact math rules.
Where these words come from
- 95% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
- Letters of Alexander von Humboldt to Varnhagen von Ense, trans. Friedrich Kapp (Rudd & Carleton, 1860; Gutenberg #67420). Letter 54, Humboldt to Varnhagen, April 28, 1841.
- Letters to Varnhagen von Ense
- 1841 · describing how his book Kosmos mixes precise science with wonder at the night sky
More from Alexander von Humboldt
See allOur imagination is struck only by what is great; but the lover of natural philosophy should reflect equally on little things.
Alexander von HumboldtA book on nature should produce an impression like nature itself.Alexander von HumboldtSimplicity is the essential, vital element of description.Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von HumboldtA book on nature should produce an impression like nature itself.Alexander von HumboldtSimplicity is the essential, vital element of description.Alexander von HumboldtMore on nature
There is, in nature, perhaps nothing older than motion.
Galileo GalileiNature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Lao TzuClouds come floating into my life from other days no longer to shed rain or usher storm but to give colour to my sunset sky.
Rabindranath TagoreGive me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.
ArchimedesThe creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.
Ralph Waldo EmersonAll art is but imitation of nature.
Seneca
Galileo GalileiNature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.Lao TzuClouds come floating into my life from other days no longer to shed rain or usher storm but to give colour to my sunset sky.Rabindranath TagoreGive me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.ArchimedesThe creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.Ralph Waldo EmersonAll art is but imitation of nature.Seneca