Abstract

There is a striking resemblance between the metaphors Galileo and Cézanne use to describe nature. Galileo claims "this grand book, the universe" is written in a mathematical language that alone can lead us out of the "dark labyrinth" of human ignorance. Cézanne suggests that "to read nature is to see it, as if through a veil" in terms of a harmonious arrangement of colors. The identification of reading with light and clarity about the world, seen against a dark ground that their creativity explores, ties the scientist and painter together. Edwin Jones compares their achievements with the interpretative methods of Husserl, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty.