"The fly sate upon the axle-tree of the chariot-wheel and said, "what a dust do I raise?" Bacon - Essays
A search for information on Sir Thomas Browne can do no better than the works of Samuel Johnson who wrote much about his life. Johnson's review may be found at: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/jlife.html and a with such a glowing appraisal of Sir Thomas Browne's life and writing, it is only appropriate to present a rebuttal to Browne's works, Pseudodoxia Epidemica which was written by Alexander Ross, Arcana Microcosmi, (published 1652) to be found at: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/ross/ross210.html . Thanks be to James Eason at the University.
Pseudodoxia Epidemica or Enquiries into very many received tenets and commonly presumed truths and Browne's other writings should be viewed as having been composed under a single basic premise. Truth - what is it? This may be missed by many of those who either champion his cause or seek to diminish the man and his writings, but he stated it quite plainly in his Religio Medica, Sect. 6 (pp 12, The First Part) -
"I could never divide my self from any man upon the difference of an opinion, or be angry with his judgement for not agreeing with me in that from which perhaps within a few days I should dissent my self. I have no Genius in disputes of Religion, and have often thought it wisdom to decline them, especially upon a disadvantage, or when the cause of truth might suffer in the weakness of my patronage; Where we all desire to be informed, �tis good to contest with men above our selves; but to confirm and establish our opinions, �tis best to argue with judgments below our own, that the frequent spoils and Victories over their reasons may settle in ourselves an esteem and confirmed Opinion of our own. Every man is not a proper champion of Truth, nor fit to take up the Gauntlet in the cause of Verity: Many, from the ignorance of these Maxims, and an inconsiderate Zeal unto Truth, have too rashly charged the Troops of Error, and remain as Trophies unto the enemies of Truth: A man may be in possession of Truth as of a City, and yet be forced to surrender; �tis therefore far better to enjoy her with peace, than to hazzard her on a battle: if therefore there rise any doubts in my way, I do forget them, or at least defer them till my better settled judgement and more manly reason be able to resolve them; for I perceive every man's own reason is his best Oedipus, and will upon a reasonable truce, find a way to loose those bonds wherewith the subtleties of error have enchained our more flexible and tender judgements.... "
Having said this (and much more) Sir Thomas Browne sets out to show the two sides of an argument and none better than when considering light and darkness. He sees beauty in darkness where others see only the absence of light. Browne points out the beauty of stars which would be unknown if not for the shadow of earth passing before the sun. Imagine the whimsical flight of fireflies, with their ATP driven burst of light by an enzyme aptly named luciferase. Or the release of the burst of light from fireworks on the Forth of July. A contemporary of Sir Thomas Browne, wrote - On my Blindness. "When I consider how my life is spent, ... " Milton; There is beauty in darkness, and no need to damn it or even light a candle.
Sir Thomas Browne tweaked the Knowing Ones of his day and through Samuel Butler's, Hudibras, gained a presence in the minds of men who stood in awe of those in their blood-stained cloaks, who could not defend their blind faith in Knowledge gained not from experience and scientific endeavour but taken from the writings of old.
Truth does change as knowledge is added. Such it is that the Descent of Man has been revised over the years as new is added to the old and some of the old must pass (Stephen Jay Gould should be reread). However, it is far better to take the approach of Stephen Wolfram and question if most results, have a simple explanation, evolution be damned!
While Sir Thomas Browne wrote that perhaps one should enjoy Truth in silence to avoid controversy, he was among the first to rock the boat. Charles II did well to add Sir to Thomas Browne's title.
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