wardbertnzl
11-07-2015, 02:43 AM
Good evening, everyone! I have hopes that someone will be able to help me locate the title/author of a short story, by an early American writer, that I read many years ago whilst an undergraduate student.
In the story the protagonist - a clergyman, I think - was contemplating the jewel in his ring and realised that it comprised many, many "atoms" that could almost be miniature solar systems or galaxies. This set him to thinking that perhaps our own universe was merely an atom in the jewel of a ring worn by some enormous giant; and perhaps that giant's universe was merely an atom in an even more vast universe, and so on. The contemplation of this infinite regress nearly drove him into madness, and his life fell apart. Eventually, however, another Spinoza-type realisation brought him back to sanity, but with an alterned understanding of reality.
If anyone could provide the bibliographic details for this story, I'd be most grateful.
Kind regards,
Bert
In the story the protagonist - a clergyman, I think - was contemplating the jewel in his ring and realised that it comprised many, many "atoms" that could almost be miniature solar systems or galaxies. This set him to thinking that perhaps our own universe was merely an atom in the jewel of a ring worn by some enormous giant; and perhaps that giant's universe was merely an atom in an even more vast universe, and so on. The contemplation of this infinite regress nearly drove him into madness, and his life fell apart. Eventually, however, another Spinoza-type realisation brought him back to sanity, but with an alterned understanding of reality.
If anyone could provide the bibliographic details for this story, I'd be most grateful.
Kind regards,
Bert