December 04, 2004

The dimensions of hell

Posted by Chris

From the FT’s review of Len Fisher’s Weighing the Soul :

Weighing the Soul is a mine of delightful oddities, such as the origins of Galileo’s “scaling theory”, which is still used to estimate proportions when turning a model into an actual building. Early in his career Galileo was asked by the Pope to use his mathematical skills to work out the exact location and dimensions of Hell. His calculations showed it to be a cone-shaped structure with the point at the centre of the earth and the top a circle whose centre was below Jerusalem. The big structural problem was the unsupported roof, which spanned 5,000kms. Galileo claimed that the design used for the dome of the cathedral in Florence would do the job and was lavishly praised. In fact he rapidly realised that his calculations were wrong but kept it secret, only publishing the amended equations years later.

Posted on December 4, 2004 01:48 PM UTC
Comments

Well, Iraq and Afghanistan are not too far from Jerusalem, and our soldiers stationed there might possibly think they are in hell. So you are not giving near enough credit to Galileo for coming up with the right answer, or near enough credit to the Pope for having the ingenuity to ask the question.

Posted by cloquet · December 5, 2004 10:35 PM

Still, that sounds like an interesting book. Oddly enough, the weight of a soul was the subject of a trailer I saw last night for an upcoming movie.

Posted by cloquet · December 5, 2004 10:43 PM

Obligatory alt-pop reference:

“I wanted to know the exact dimensions of hell.”

Sonic Youth (Kim Gordon, vocal)
“The Sprawl”
Daydream Nation

Maybe Galileo’s where she got this? It always sounded like Rimbaud to me, but couldn’t find it there …

Posted by Anderson · December 6, 2004 11:23 PM

The first verse of “The Sprawl” is a pastiche of lines from Denis Johnson’s The Stars at Noon, an excellent if occasionally bewildering mid-’80s novel set in Central America. Nicaragua in 1984 is the narrator’s idea of hell.

Posted by paul · December 8, 2004 09:09 PM
Followups

This discussion has been closed. Thanks to everyone who contributed.