Улісс
Chapter 2
Werethereobversemeditationsofinvolutionincreasinglylessvast?
Oftheeonsofgeologicalperiodsrecordedinthestratificationsoftheearth:ofthemyriadminuteentomologicalorganicexistencesconcealedincavitiesoftheearth,beneathremovablestones,inhivesandmounds,ofmicrobes,germs,bacteria,bacilli,spermatozoa:oftheincalculabletrillionsofbillionsofmillionsofimperceptiblemoleculescontainedbycohesionofmolecularaffinityinasinglepinhead:oftheuniverseofhumanserumconstellatedwithredandwhitebodies,themselvesuniversesofvoidspaceconstellatedwithotherbodies,each,incontinuity,itsuniverseofdivisiblecomponentbodiesofwhicheachwasagaindivisibleindivisionsofredivisiblecomponentbodies,dividendsanddivisorseverdiminishingwithoutactualdivisiontill,iftheprogresswerecarriedfarenough,noughtnowherewasneverreached.
Whydidhenotelaboratethesecalculationstoamorepreciseresult?
Becausesomeyearspreviouslyin1886whenoccupiedwiththeproblemofthequadratureofthecirclehehadlearnedoftheexistenceofanumbercomputedtoarelativedegreeofaccuracytobeofsuchmagnitudeandofsomanyplaces,e.g.
