The metaphor of the dwarf stands on a giant shoulder (Latin: gigantic hanis insidentes ) states the meaning of "the discovery of truth by building the discovery before ". This concept has been traced back in the 12th century, which is attributed to Bernard of Chartres. The best known expression in English was by Isaac Newton in 1675: "If I have looked further by standing on the shoulders of the Giant."
Video Standing on the shoulders of giants
Attribution and meaning
The attribution to Bernard of Chartres is due to John of Salisbury. In 1159, John wrote in his book Metalogicon: "Bernard of Chartres is used to compare us to the dwarfs perched on the giant shoulders, showing that we see more and more than our predecessors, not because we have a sharper or higher vision higher, but because we are lifted and borne up high on their gigantic stature. "
According to the medieval historian Richard William Southern, Bernard compares contemporary 12th-century scholars to ancient Greek and Roman scholars:
[Phrase] summarizes the quality of cathedral schools in the history of learning, and indeed characterizes the ages that opened with Gerbert (950-1003) and Fulbert (960-1028) and closed in the first quarter of the 12th century with Peter Abelard. [The sentence] is not a good claim; not really, however, it is an example of disgrace in front of an ancient temple. This is a very shrewd and fair remark, and the important and original point is that dwarves can look a little farther from the giants. That this is possible above all is due to the cathedral schools with a lack of strongly rooted traditions and their freedom from clear study routines.
The visual image (from Bernard of Chartres) appears in the stained glass south of Chartres Cathedral. The tall windows under the Roses window show the four main prophets of the Hebrew Bible (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel) as gigantic figures, and four New Testament evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) as regular sizes of people sitting on their shoulders. Evangelists, though smaller, "see more" than the great prophets (because they see the Messiah about whom the prophets speak).
This phrase also appears in the works of the Jewish tosaphist Isaiah in Trani (c 1180 - c 1250):
If Joshua son of Nun supports the wrong position, I will reject it from the hand, I do not hesitate to express my opinion, regarding such matters as according to the amount of intelligence given to me. I have never been arrogant to claim "My wisdom serves me well". Instead I apply to myself the parable of the philosophers. Because I heard the following from the philosophers, The wisest of the philosophers asks: "We recognize that our predecessors are wiser than us, at the same time we criticize their comments, often reject them and claim that the truth is in our hands. How is this possible? "The wise philosopher replied:" Who sees further a dwarf or a giant? Of course the giant for his eyes lies at a higher level than the dwarves, but if a dwarf is placed on a giant shoulder that sees it further? we are dwarves who are on the shoulders of the giants. We control their wisdom and move beyond that. Because of their wisdom we grow wisely and are able to say everything we say, but not because we are bigger than them.
Maps Standing on the shoulders of giants
References during the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries
Diego de Estella received a quote in the 16th century; in the seventeenth century it has become commonplace. Robert Burton, in The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621), quotes Stella as follows:
I say with Didacus Stella, a dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant can see beyond the giant itself.
Then Burton's editor misinterpreted a quote for Lucan; in the hands of their attribution Burton Didacus Stella, in luc 10, tom. iii "Inaugurated to Luke , chapter 10, volume 2" becomes a reference for Lucan Pharsalia 2.10. There is no reference or reference to the quotes found there.
Then in the seventeenth century, George Herbert, in his book Jacula Prudentum (1651), writes "A dwarf on the giant shoulder look further than the two."
Isaac Newton said in a letter to his rival, Robert Hooke, dated February 5, 1676 [O.S.] (February 15, 1676 [N.S.]) that:
What Des-Cartes [ sic ] do is a good move. You've added many ways, & amp; especially in taking the color of thin plates into philosophical considerations. If I have looked further it is by standing in the sholders [ sic ] of Giants.
This has recently been interpreted by some authors as a sarcastic statement directed at Hooke's appearance. Although Hooke is not a very short stature, he is a bit of a build and has suffered from his youth with severe kyphosis. However, at this time Hooke and Newton are in good shape and have exchanged many letters with mutual respect. Only later, when Robert Hooke criticized some of Newton's ideas about optics, Newton felt offended by his withdrawal from the public debate. Both men remained enemies until Hooke's death.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, dalam The Friend (1828), menulis:
The dwarf looked farther than the giant, when he had a giant shoulder to set.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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