None of the Laplace scholars I’ve consulted recognise the sentence though, and point out that, apart from a couple of very early (purely mathematical) works he never actually wrote in Latin. My suspicion is that the sentence is classical in origin (and may have been QUOTED by Laplace).
Does anyone know who suggested that it might be unwise to lift one’s little finger? Or, failing that, can anyone recommend a Classics forum on which I might ask for further help?
I have never come across such a Latin phrase. The syntax is a bit forced, as it appears mean “You cannot move your little finger [in such a way] that you do not rouse the whole world”, but the adverb for the way in which one moves their finger is suppressed rather jarringly.
If the phrase was actuallywritten by someone other than this mathematician, the closer to him in time the better. The talk of “mundum universum” is reminiscent of writers of the middle ages and later, such as Thomas Aquinas and various Christian writers.
Sorry I can’t put a name to the writer but, if the Latin has been quoted correctly by the Russian pair, the writer is not too au fait with his Latin, as the same sentiment could have been expressed in far more elegant ways.
Well, this gets me a little closer I think. Having more or less established that the quotation isn’t actually by Laplace, its now looking like its probably not classical but late Latin. I hadn’t thought of the possibility that it might be a mis-quotation, though: this might well explain why the sentence doesn’t appear anywhere else online. Thanks for your help, whiteoctave. One last thing: can you think of anywhere else I might pursue this? I’m sure that someone, somewhere can throw light on the quotation…
Thanks klewlis. I’ve been trying to access the Classics list since you posted, but keep getting internal server errors when I try to ‘Join the List’ or ‘Search the Archives’. Is anyone else having trouble with it?
hmmm… it’s possible that I have given you the old address instead of the current one (the list was moved within the past year). Try sending an email to this address: Classics-L@lsv.uky.edu and see what happens.
Okay, the list was having problems for a few days, apparently. The site is back up again now, although it doesn’t seem to want to register me. I’m not having much luck!
I tried emailing that address, but was told that I’m not authorized to post to the list. I’ve contact the List Owner and Lists Manager, to see if anyone can sort me out. Is the CLASSICS-L@LISTS.OU.EDU fairly active? Is it still running?
Hmmm, I’m really not having much luck here: I’ve registered, had my registration confirmed, but find that I’m “unauthorized” to access the site. The LISTS manager recommended that I contact the Classics List owner, and ask them to register me manually, but having done so they’ve not replied. I’m at a bit of a loss now - what am I doing wrong? Any suggestions? Any help from anyone would be most appreciated.
Okay, the new Classics List url is: http://www.lsoft.com/scripts/wl.exe?SL1=CLASSICS-L&H=LSV.UKY.EDU. The old url is still there, and sort of half working, which is why I was having so many problems with it. I’ve got as far as “your request to join the CLASSICS-L list has been forwarded to the list owner for approval” this time, so (little) fingers crossed…
Not to worry - I’ve managed to sign up, and just posted my question (I hope!). Thanks for putting me on to the List - if no-one there can identify the quotation, I really will give up.
