transit of venus

[Richard Romeo]

>From y'day's NY Times:

"This time, when Venus eclipsed the Sun on Tuesday, most professional astronomers didn't care, at least not scientifically. They had long ago pinned down the Earth-Sun distance at just under 93 million miles using other means. A transit of Venus is today as unsurprising as a grandfather clock that does indeed chime 12 times at midnight." 


I guess what gets me is that the event itself, the cherishing of the transit, can represent more than just an astronomical measurement, a thing of beauty above and beyond the rarity of its occurrence, a tender metaphor for something that unites people, if only temporarily.

Maybe Pynchon is thinking the same as he depicts the transit in M&D

Rich


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On Behalf Of David Gentle
Sent: Friday, June 11, 2004 7:35 PM
To: pynchon-l at waste.org
Subject: Re: transit of venus

> In data 9 Jun 2004, verso le 1:49, David Gentle si trovò a scrivere
> su transit of venus:
>
> > Still, it's just a stupid dot in front of the sun.
>
> & the Sun a stupid luminous Ball in the Sky...?
Don't misunderstand me. I think Venus is a very interesting planet and the scientific observation of
it has yielded much useful information about the universe as we know it but this weird desire to
make rituals out of things just because they are rare is silly. It's also annoying me because I
foolishly missed out on an oportunity to join in with the ritual like everyone else. I am
conflicted.

David Gentle