It May Be Well To

The Heavenly Bodies Are Nothing But A Continuous Song For Several Voices (perceived By The Intellect, Not By The Ear); A Music Which... Sets Landmarks In The Immeasurable Flow Of Time. It Is Therefore, No Longer Surprising That Man, In Imitation Of His Creator, Has At Last Discovered The Art Of Figured Song, Which Was Unknown To The Ancients. Man Wanted To Reproduce The Continuity Of Cosmic Time... To Obtain A Sample Test Of The Delight Of The Divine Creator In His Works, And To Partake Of His Joy By Making Music In The Imitation Of God.

I Also Ask You My Friends Not To Condemn Me Entirely To The Mill Of Mathematical Calculations, And Allow Me Time For Philosophical Speculations, My Only Pleasures.

My Aim Is To Say That The Machinery Of The Heavens Is Not Like A Divine Animal But Like A Clock (and Anyone Who Believes A Clock Has A Soul Gives The Work The Honour Due To Its Maker) And That In It Almost All The Variety Of Motions Is From One Very Simple Magnetic Force Acting On Bodies, As In The Clock All Motions Are From A Very Simple Weight.

Geometry Is One And Eternal Shining In The Mind Of God. That Share In It Accorded To Men Is One Of The Reasons That Man Is The Image Of God.

Since We Astronomers Are Priests Of The Highest God In Regard To The Book Of Nature, It Befits Us To Be Thoughtful, Not Of The Glory Of Our Minds, But Rather, Above All Else, Of The Glory Of God.