Book Images

In which Merleau-Ponty has a chapter himself. plato.stanford.edu/entries/merleau-ponty

Invasion of the land. An early lobe-finned fish from about 385 million years ago; a land dwelling tetrapod from Greenland, about 365 million years ago; and the transitional form’Tiktaalik roseae,’ from Ellesmere Island, about 375 million years ago. The intermediacy of Tiktaalik’s body form is mirrored by the intermediacy of its limbs, which have a bone structure in between that of the sturdy fins of the lobe-finned fish and the even sturdiest walking mammals: the bone with darkest shading will become our humerus, and the medium- and light-shaded bones will become the radius and ulna, respectively.

Continental drift explains the evolutionary biography of the ancient tree ‘Glossopteris. Top: the present-day distribution of Glossopteris fossils (shaded) is broken up into pieces distributed among the continents, making it hard to understand. The patterns of glacial scratches in the rocks are likewise mysterious (arrows). Bottom, the distribution of Glossopteris during the Permian period, when the continents were joined in a supercontinent. This pattern makes sense because the trees surrounded the Permian South pole in an area of temperate climate. And the glacial scratches we see today also make sense, as they all pointed away from the Permian south pole

Examples of sexual diamorphisms, showing marked difference in the appearance of males and females. Kingdom of Saxony bird of Paradise (Pteridophora alberti), whose males have elaborate head ornaments that are sky blue on one side and brown on the other.

Figure 3-2 : A highly simplified modern version of the tree of life, emphasizing the diversification of species from a common ancestor. In this radial version no species occupies a privileged position. Courtesy of Dr. David Hillis en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hillis

www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/02/11/darwin-day en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_life_(biology)

Berlin Walls, East Side Gallery, 1999 ~ Photo by Svetlana Boym HBM & Best wishes to all

FIGURE 3.4. The frontis piece to Voltaire’s Elemens de la philosophie de Newton (1738). Newton transmits the divine light of the heavens to Voltaire by way of Madame de Chatelet, the French translator of Newton’s ‘Principia Mathematica’ and Voltaire’s mistress. Florida State University Libraries, Special Collection and Archives.

FIGURE 3.2. The genius (Voltaire) with his ‘genius,’ source of inspiration and light. The frequent coupling the ‘genii’ and men of genius in the eighteenth century perpetuated the conflation of their powers. The Latin epigraph translates loosely as “One day he will be as dear to all, as he now is to his friends.” Engraving by J. Balcchou after a portrait of Jean Michel Liotard, 1756. (Collection of the author)

FIGU8RE 2.2. albrecht Durer, Saint Jerome in His Study, 1514. The translator of the Bible as a scholar-saint engrossed in contemplation, privy to special revelations. Bpk, Berlin / Kupferstichkabinett, Statliche Museen, Berlin /Joerg P. Andes / Art Resource, New York

FIGURE 1.1. Peter_Paul Rubens, Prometheus Bound, early seventeenth century. The Prometheus myth is an archetype of the dangers, as well as the temptations, of usurping divine creativity and knowledge. Philadelphia Museum of Art / Art Resource, New York - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I am Prometheus under the vulture’s beak, Man, the discoverer of the undying Fire, In the flame he kindled burning like a moth; I am the seeker who can never find, I am the fighter who can never win, I am the runner who never touched his goal; Hell tortures me with the edges of my thought, Heaven tortures me with the splendour of my dreams. ||122.26|| ~ "Savithri" ~ Sri Aurobindo

FIGURE 1.2. William Blake, Satan Calling Up His Legions, C 1805. Inspired by John Milton’s Paradise Lost, the painting presents Lucifer, the wisest of the angles, in quasi-heroic terms as a being who dared to rival God. National Trust Photo Library / Art Resources, New York