Descartes’s Secret Notebook: A True Tale of Mathematics, Mysticism, and the Quest to Understand the Universe by Amir D. Aczel (PDF)

Description

René Descartes (1596—1650) is one of the towering and central figures in Western philosophy and mathematics. His apothegm “Cogito, ergo sum” marked the birth of the mind-body problem, while his creation of so-called Cartesian coordinates has made our intellectual conquest of physical space possible.But Descartes had a mysterious and mystical side, as well. Almost certainly a member of the occult brotherhood of the Rosicrucians, he kept a secret notebook, now lost, most of which was written in code. After Descartes’s death, Gottfried Leibniz, inventor of calculus and one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, moved to Paris in search of this notebook–and eventually found it in the possession of Claude Clerselier, a friend of Descartes’s. Liebniz called on Clerselier and was allowed to copy only a couple of pages–which, though written in code, he amazingly deciphered there on the spot. Liebniz’s hastily scribbled notes are all we have today of Descartes’s notebook.Why did Descartes keep a secret notebook, and what were its contents? The answers to these questions will lead the reader on an exciting, swashbuckling journey, and offer a fascinating look at one of the great figures of Western culture.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book is padded to come out to a certain number of pages so that a certain price can be slapped on the hardcover version. The margins are wide, the leading deep, with few words on a page. But the physical stretching is nothing compared to the content stretching. Or the title stretching.I bought this book because it received very good reviews and because I was interested in this question: What was in Descartes’ secret notebook? I’m not a mathematician, but I thought I’d enjoy reading this book. Well, I did enjoy reading it, which is why I’m giving it three stars. The reason I’m not giving it five stars or four stars is that there is very, very little about Descartes’ secret notebook in this padded book. Much of the book consists of a summary of Descartes’ life. Interesting, but not why I bought the book. Halfway through the book I began to wonder: Uh-oh — is it possible that the author is NOT going to tell me anything at all about the secret notebooks?As it turns out, the last chapter is reserved for what the author sees as the implications of Descartes’ secret notebooks: space travel, astronomy, solid geometry relationships, the stars and planets. But the interpretation of what this all means is left up to the reader. The implications seem awesome, as if Descartes understood the secrets of space and matter. But the power of this last chapter relies more on a reader’s inferences than on the author’s explanations.Summary: interesting reading for this non-mathematician, but highly suspect content.

⭐I must agree with the previous writers, it is very surprising that even the basic things in mathematics, like the nature of compass and straightedge, are understood the wrong way.However despite it’s errors, the storyline is told in interesting way. A lot of questions arises from this book: did Descartes and Kepler had a common (rosicrician?) view of the physical order in the universe? What really happened to Descartes in Ulm? Did Leibniz found something from that secret notebook, or did he just forget the translation to the huge collection of ideas he never explained in more details?Can we ever answer to these questions? Probably not. We can only speculate these questions, but, however we lack the direct facts and answers, may be we can also learn something about the philosophy, science and life in general in those days.These speculations cannot be considered very scientific, but why not to research Descartes as as mystical adventurer, warrior, rosicrician, vegetarian, instead of traditional (and somewhat boring) philosopher?

⭐The very fact that the German polymath Leibniz sat down to transcribe pages of a “secret notebook” written by Rene Descartes could send chills up the spine of any fan of these superstars of the Enlightenment, and indeed that is exactly what happened to me. I was so intrigued by the title that I pre-ordered this book and waited for it to arrive in Japan with a kid on Christmas eve kind of feeling. But after I devoured it in one sitting, I found myself wondering how this mishmash of potted biographies and wobbly argumentation (Descartes was in such and such a city at the same time as such and such a reputed Rosicrucian was passing through the same city, therefore Descartes was a Rosicrucian), could add up to a book to be taken seriously. I learned that Descartes might have been poisoned, that he might have fathered a child by a mistress, that maybe he routed a boat-load of pirates all by his Popeye self, which would have made him a considerable scrapper if it were true. Leibniz comes in for an even more nebulous portrait as he glides through the pages, a mere excuse for the plot to ramble on. Finally, at the end of the book we’re allowed to look over Leibniz’s shoulder as he decrypts and transcribes (in record time!) an equation that would later be rediscovered by Euler, the great mathematician and associate of Gauss, the Beethoven of pure math. Yes, this is remarkable stuff, but it’s really not explained in enough depth before Aczel attempts to stretch the significance of Descartes’ discovery into a hyper-Einsteinian cosmological intuition of the nature of the dimensional structuring of the universe itself–a truly breathtaking, and–a truly unwarranted–leap. Add to this mix the halting, spavined style that hobbles the narrative and you have what resembles a one trick pony of a book that will leave you hoping for a Native Dancer to canter by some day.

⭐Great book written by a great writer. The descriptions bring to life the age of the 17th centuary and the people that lived and operated then. Once you start reading you cannot leave the book till the end. Amir Aczel is once again gives a facinated book. I’m already waitting to his next book.

⭐This book is almost impossible to put down. Learned so much about history and that era….would highly recommend to anyone.

⭐Very pleased with price and product condition. Thanks for offering this book at such a reduced price!

⭐Great book – great author!

⭐Interesting read. I just wish they had it in hard cover.

⭐This is a short, lively and entertaining book which was a pleasure to read.One other review at least stated that it was less about the notebook and more a biography, and this is a sound analysis. However, the notebook is the central idea which the biography leads up too, so, although the title is a misnomer, it at least describes the final thoughts of the book.I would recommend this to anyone interested in Descartes’ life and time, or the development of his thought. It is a good primer, and quite entertaining. However, it is basically a biography which is not suggested by its title, so give it a miss, or just slim the final chapters, if that is not what you are after.The writer is a good communicator of complex ideas and writes in an entertaining style, my one complaint betting several typo’s.

⭐Fab. Buy it.

⭐Nice book

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