John Carlos Baez

RE: https://universeodon.com/@lovableweirdo/116222224444635795

I hadn't known about Margaret Cavendish writing SF in 1666, back when Newton was coming up with calculus. For more, check out the whole conversation here and also Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Cavendish,_Duchess_of_Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Mar 14 at 4:15pmWeb
Show threadVictor GijsbersMar 14
@johncarlosbaez I teach her in my History of Modern Philosophy class, but haven't read her SF yet!
Show threadJohn Carlos BaezMar 14
@victorgijsbers - what about her philosophy do you teach?
Show threadVictor GijsbersMar 14
@johncarlosbaez We read a selection from the part of the Philosophical Letters that criticises Descartes. A little about the physics (e.g., his account of density in terms of pores), but most of all the letters in which Cavendish defends her own theory of matter as always a mixture of inanimate, animate and rational; which she then uses to criticise, among other things, Descartes' claim that animals have no feelings.
Show threadVictor GijsbersMar 14
@johncarlosbaez "That one man expressing his mind by speech or words to an other, doth not declare by it his excellency and supremacy above all other Creatures, but for the most part more folly, for a talking man is not so wise as a contemplating man. But by reason other Creatures cannot speak or discourse with each other as men, or make certain signs, whereby to express themselves as dumb and deaf men do, should we conclude, they have neither knowledge, sense, reason, or intelligence?"
Show threadJohn Carlos BaezMar 15

@victorgijsbers - nice quote!

"a talking man is not so wise as a contemplating man"

😏

Show threadMartin EscardoMar 14
@johncarlosbaez I like the post but I don't like the picture. She is much more lovely in her Wikipedia page, not only in pictures but in her life.
Show threadGrégoire LocquevilleMar 14
@MartinEscardo Not too surprising, given that the picture is AI slop...
Show threadChris PurcellMar 15
@glocq what's the tell? I agree with you but I can't put my finger on it. The eyes of the men maybe?
Show threadGrégoire LocquevilleMar 15
@ccppurcell That weird contraption where a pipe magically goes through the glass...
Show threadSylvia Wenmackers 🦉🍀Mar 14
@johncarlosbaez My late philosopher-friend Helen De Cruz wrote a very cool paper called "Cosmic Horror and the Philosophical Origins of Science Fiction" https://helendecruz.net/docs/DeCruz_horror.pdf, in which Cavendish's Blazing-world is a key example (in addition to Fontenelle’s Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds (1686)). They also illustrated the Blazing-world here: https://helendecruz.substack.com/p/illustrated-edition-of-margaret-cavendish
Show threadJohn Carlos BaezMar 15

@SylviaFysica - cosmic horror? Interesting. That makes me think of some passages in Lovecraft and There is No Antimemetics Division, which portray the universe as a fundamentally evil place. But maybe she's talking about some other sort of horror.

"The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me."

Oh, that kind of horror.

Show threadThe Blue WizardMar 15

@johncarlosbaez I have known that Mary Shelley was called the first SF writer, but I didn't know about Margaret Cavendish being a SF writer. Also, while reading the Wikipedia article, I saw this sentence: "Margaret Cavendish was the first person to develop an original theory of atomism in Britain." Wow!

Also I found this article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_fiction

History of science fiction - Wikipedia

Show threadJohn Carlos BaezMar 15

@thebluewizard - Mary Shelley may be called the first SF writer, but you have to compare Kepler's 1608 novel "Somnium", which is about a journey to the moon. Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov have called it one of the earliest works of science fiction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somnium_(novel)

Somnium (novel) - Wikipedia

Show threadChristopherMar 15
@johncarlosbaez Last year there was an exhibit on her in Colchester's Hollytrees museum. She was born in Colchester.