On the Infinite, the Universe and the Worlds: Five Cosmological Dialogues

by Giordano Bruno, Scott Gosnell (Translator)

In 1584, while living in the household of Michel de Castelnau, the French Ambassador to the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England, Giordano Bruno completed three books of cosmological dialogues: The Ash Wednesday Supper; On Cause, Principal and Unity; and the current volume, On the Infinite, the Universe and the Worlds. Drawing on the work of Lucretius, Nicholas da Cusa, Nicholas Copernicus and others, Bruno developed his theory of an infinitely extensive and eternal universe, filled with stars like our sun, planets like our own, and every world populated by people just like us.

Giordano Bruno's heretical ideas and forceful personality led to a turbulent life, during which he travelled to most of the great academic centers of Europe, and which culminated in his trial and execution at the hands of the Roman Inquisition in 1600.

Genres: Philosophy, Science, Nonfiction, Mysticism, Religion, Physics, Astronomy

232 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1584

About the author

Giordano Bruno (1548 – February 17, 1600), born Filippo Bruno, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer, who is best known as a proponent of the infinity of the universe. His cosmological theories went beyond the Copernican model in identifying the Sun as just one of an infinite number of independently moving heavenly bodies: he is the first European man to have conceptualized the universe as a continuum where the stars we see at night are identical in nature to the Sun. He was burned at the stake by authorities in 1600 after the Roman Inquisition found him guilty of heresy. After his death he gained considerable fame; in the 19th and early 20th centuries, commentators focusing on his astronomical beliefs regarded him as a martyr for free thought and modern scientific ideas. Recent assessments suggest that his ideas about the universe played a smaller role in his trial than his pantheist beliefs, which differed from the interpretations and scope of God held by Catholicism.[1][2] In addition to his cosmological writings, Bruno also wrote extensive works on the art of memory, a loosely organized group of mnemonic techniques and principles. More recent assessments, beginning with the pioneering work of Frances Yates, suggest that Bruno was deeply influenced by the astronomical facts of the universe inherited from Arab astrology, Neoplatonism and Renaissance Hermeticism.[3] Other recent studies of Bruno have focused on his qualitative approach to mathematics and his application of the spatial paradigms of geometry to language.[4]

Reviews

[Basel · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you ever go to Rome, you might pass a popular square by the city center that’s called Campo de’Fiori. It’s a pretty vibrant square with a lovely market and nice restaurants and bars. In the middle of the square, a statue is erected of one Giordano Bruno. Unfortunately, most people nowadays have no idea who is Giordano Bruno. He was a 16th century Dominican Friar from a little town near Naples. It’s called Nola. Bruno dared to dream and assert an infinite universe, a universe with no center, filled with many stars and planets, and maybe, just maybe the other planets are vibrant with life like our own. Out of his deep belief that God cannot be contained in a finite, enclosed system, but rather since God is infinite, so is the universe, he wrote many works on this subject and wandered around in exile speaking of his vision of an infinite universe. This book here is probably his most famous book on the subject. Written in 1584, “On the Infinite Universe and Worlds” is a dialogue in which Bruno expands on the Copernican system, not only conflicting with all of the authorities of his time, but also calling for reassessing the knowledge of his time. World and Universe are two separate things. While we inhabit the planet Earth, which circles around the sun and has its own set of rules and physical laws, this is but a single world system in a huge, vast universe that has countless and numberless worlds. The star and the Earth aren’t unique. The universe cannot but go and on. While most people at that time would just shove Aristotle’s work in your face, Bruno deconstructs many of his arguments in favor of the infinite. For only the infinite with its immensity would be able to prove the divine greatness of God. But, as you can imagine, Bruno’s ideas were scathingly fought and let him be in social exile, wandering around speaking of his vision of the infinite. The Roman Catholic Church was not pleased. They accused Bruno with heresy, and, alas, Bruno was burned alive in the place where his statue is erected. His body died, but his ideas and intuition live on.

Bruno’s story and work is fascinating and inspiring on so many levels. It shows how some of the ground breaking ideas about the world could sometimes come of intuition and someone’s simple mind. Years later, out of similar inspiration, Galileo would direct his telescopes to the night sky, Newton would write the Principia, and the rest is history. The universe won’t be finite anymore. Bruno’s story represents a great parallel to our days, showing us how authority could find “a new idea” to be extremely dangerous. Knowledge will always threaten tyranny. Upon receiving his death sentence, Bruno replied to his judges with one of the greatest comebacks in the history of all comebacks: “Perhaps you pronounce this sentence against me with greater fear than I receive it” Knowledge will always be dangerous to tyranny, whether that knowledge be a simple idea of the universe being bigger than it is, held by a frail man in the 16th century, or in many of our daily societies where you are told what you should think rather than being inspired to free your mind.

[Jimmy Ele · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the style of a Socratic dialoGue thIs mOnumental woRk is writ. He spoke of many worlDs, the multiverse, ANd Of the infinite. The thoughts that were revealed were way ahead of time. For this they BuRned him to a pitch, committing Ugly crime. His Name, not theirs now find memOrialized in rhyme.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

He really makes Aristotle look ridiculous, though I found some of his arguments salvageable for defending a pet insistence of mine, mainly from Spinoza: that there is no such thing as an alternate-timeline.

"Seventh, we see that in all cases, nature stops when it is comprehensive; for just as she is deficient in nothing which is necessary, she is also never abundant in surplus. Since she can put into effect all of her works in this our world, there is no reason, that she should wish to feign another."

Just replace "world" with "cosmos" and we can see that alternate timelines are vain bullshit which intolerably damage the solid and perfect dignity of our *one* reality.


I still wonder whether Bruno really meant, and if so how he thought he knew, that the extension of the Universe is truly infinite. That's something cosmologists still don't have an answer for, but if our observations of the apparent expansion of the Universe are true, then what are we expanding into? Pure vacuum/empty space? Or is the actual finite limit of the Universe growing into something which was, before expansion, non-space, non-existence even of vacuum?

Or is the expansion just increase of relative distances, but of truly infinite bodies?

[Juri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bahnbrechende Ideen und Gedanken, welche ihm den Scheiterhaufen einbrachten. Interessant zu lesen wie man richtige Entschlüsse aus völlig falschen Gründen zieht und wie sich der Mensch auch irren kann, auch wenn er revolutionäre Dinge denkt.

[Adrian Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I found interesting about this book, and other very old literatures, written by greek philosophers, roman emperors, scholars and monks, is the reasoning system. It's fascinating to see a sincere exposal of the way they analised and share their honest view about the world, politics or universe. Most of them were well ahead their times, some even controversial and presented ideas with deduction and clarity. I found it fascinating to see they were people just like us ..who enjoyed to read, think and talk.

[Schellchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Am Anfang ein gewöhnungsbedürftiger Schreibstil, jedoch nach den ersten 20 Seiten gut lesbar. Generell für jemanden der schon viel über das Universum und das Unendliche gelesen und gehört hat schwer nachzuvollziehen, da schlicht viele empirische Fakten nicht vorhanden waren. Ich habe mich viele male dabei ertappt wo ich diese "Unwissenheit" nicht aushalten konnte. Auch das noch die Vier Elementen Theorie anerkannt war, ist im ersten Moment etwas neues. Wenn man über ein teilweise scharfen Ton und veraltete naturwissenschaftliche Fakten hinwegsehen kann, ist es ein gutes Buch um das Schlussfolgern selbst zu verstehen.

Da mich es überrascht hat, wahrscheinlich weil ich das Jahrhundert nicht gelesen habe, möchte ich auch hier davor warnen, zu glauben dieses Buch wäre eine Erweiterung aktuellen Wissens, wenngleich ontologisch auch heute anwendbar. Es ist ein Rückblick auf damalige Verhältnisse in der Naturwissenschaft.

[LJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suffer torment and tire myself for love of true knowledge and true contemplation.
This book is really compelling. You can really feel the passion and desperation Bruno has for people to understand the way he thought about the world, and in many cases he is right. He is such a modern thinker, way too early for his time and his tale is so tragic.
This book is complex and contains detailed thoughts about the universe and the infinite and I found a lot of it fascinating. There are some hard theories to grasp but I found the notes in this edition to help. I also found the prefatory epistle from Bruno to Signeur Michael De Castelneu very interesting. Bruno really does not hold back on his views in this dedicatory letter.
Bruno's voice really shows in this text and there is a surprising amount of humor and dry wit which I really liked. He was an incredible man.

[Manolis P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ο Bruno είναι ένας ιδιαζων διανοητής με χαρακτηριστική ζωή (έμενε 8 χρόνια σε μοναστήρι και μετά τον θανάτωσε η εκκλησία στην πυρά).
Διαβάζοντας την εισαγωγή νομίζεις ότι θα τα υπεραναλυσει όλα. Κατά κύριο λόγο βρίζει τον Αριστοτέλη και λιγότερο τον Πλάτωνα ότι στηρίζονται στις αισθήσεις αντί για την λογική και ότι πιστεύει (ο Αριστοτέλης και οι περιπατητικοί περισσότερο) ότι ο κόσμος είναι απειρος και ότι υπάρχουν πολλοί πλανήτες και ήλιοι σαν τον δικό μας. Ο άδειος χώρος δεν ειναι κενός αλλά μια ενδιάμεση κατάσταση.
Η ελληνική έκδοση δεν έχει ούτε ένα σχόλιο ενώ για τα κείμενα στα λατινικά δεν είναι καν μεταφρασμένα. Αδιανόητο να εκδίδεις φιλοσοφικο κείμενο και να μην έχεις ούτε ένα σχόλιο. Ούτε κείμενο για τις θέσεις του Αριστοτέλη που βρίζει ο Μπρούνο σε όλο το κείμενο.

[Bruce Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book declares a new future, one we're still living into

Few honour him in his rightful place, Giordano Bruno changed the course of history. In this book, his greatness is there for all to see - how strong a nature in him, did his firm understanding and unbounded spirit build. It is as his life came to demonstrate, he is beyond the reach of common men who require the lapse of time before they catch him up.

[James Hdz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Podría decirse de lo “bruniano” que es todo aquello que no cesa de pensar en lo indeterminado. De todo intento de compensar la falta humana -que es su determinación- con la continuidad absoluta.

La idea de Bruno sobre lo infinito es subversiva, lleva a re-pensar al hombre y al resto del universo como unidad continua e indiferente.

[Ana de la Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Persevera, Filoteo mío, persevera; no depongas tu ánimo y no retrocedas por el hecho de que el grande y grave senado de la estúpida ignorancia amenace e intente destruir tu divina empresa y alto esfuerzo con muchos aparatos y artificios.

Me parece que eso resume perfectamente el pensamiento y visión general de Bruno.

[Gary Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Philosophy and trying to understand the constructs of the universe under the watchful eye of the church can get you killed. Amazing thinking, a bit hard a times to understand given the language time and translation... but very, very informative.

[Cristian Castañeda · Rating 3 out of 5]

El romanticismo que desprende la figura trágica de Giordano me llevo a leer esta obra, que, como hija de su tiempo ahora la leemos como algo disparatada, pero que a la luz de un universo en constante expansión nos alumbra algunas ideas interesantes.

[Christopher Angulo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned about this dude from the Cosmos show. Seems like a great translation. The logic was interesting though overly redundant. Good little read.

[Recensioni in tre parole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Visionario. Cosmologico. Rivoluzionario.

[Peter J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was very profound. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Marcus Goncalves · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book sets out Giordano’s theory about the infinite universe and the existence of an unlimited number of worlds. The work is structured in dialogues between the characters Filóteo, Fracastorio, Elpino and Burquio, with Filóteo. A classic, especially for it’s time.