This Dark Star

Verification by Direct Observation using a Telescope Digges was certainly aware that in advancing such a scientific proposition it would be tested in the real world of physical or mathematical demonstration. Others would challenge his idea, and he, of all people, knew exactly how they would go about it. They would build better instruments to test parallax; and they would construct ‘perspective glasses’ or telescopes to look at the night stars and see if these ‘celestial lights’ actually appeared in countless number distributed randomly at varying ‘altitudes’ into the invisibility of infinity. Thus Digges put himself out on a limb from which there was no return. With such a bold assertion about the infinity of the universe, repeatedly emphasized throughout his book, Digges knew he would be tested, and knowing that, he still put his reputation on the line. So, with that in mind, it is inconceivable to think that he did not first perform the experiments himself before setting pen to paper. He was a careful man, one with a disciplined mind sharpened by years of intense mathematical labor. He was also a person who valued experimentation above all else. In fact, his whole concept of himself, his personal identity by training and by choice, was self-defined within the limits of empiricism with truth always being a function of observation and experimentation. Therefore, it would appear to be perfectly clear that Digges could achieve certainty in his claim about the infinity of the universe only by direct observation using either his father’s telescope or one of his own design. No matter how attractive might be the theory of an infinite universe, there is little or no chance that he would have advanced it without first subjecting it to the same physical verification that he could reasonably expect of others. So, he turned his telescope upwards to the sky. The image might have been far from perfect. It might have been small and blurry, especially around the edges. The light might have been weak, but it was good enough. Hello! What is this? He looked and saw innumerable stars invisible to the naked eye. He saw stars bright and close and he saw stars far away and diminishing in intensity with distance. He saw a deep three-dimensional field of stars. He saw a universe stretching out to infinity. No one had seen such things before. Never! It challenged the imagination, but it conformed to the idea of an infinite world. And it plausibly confirmed his hypothesis. Thomas Digges’ Contributions to the New Paradigm In later times with the benefit of hindsight, it had become clear that by virtue of the Copernican innovations a new astronomical paradigm was beginning to take shape. Thomas Digges’ contributions to this emerging development are as follows: • He was the first person to introduce the Copernican planetary system to England through the first English translation of Copernicus’ De Revolutionibus. • He was the first to advance the scientific theory of an infinite universe. • He was the first to advance the scientific theory of an infinite number of stars. • He was the first to appreciate the paradox of darkness at night in a unbounded universe with countless sources of light (stars); and the first to suggest a solution. • He was the first to use a telescope for astronomical observation.