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Quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, born on August 28, 1749, and died on March 22, 1832, was a prominent German writer, thinker, and scientist. He is one of the greatest writers in German literary history and his works have had a profound impact on the world. His most famous works include 'Faust' and 'The Sorrows of Young Werther'. more

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“Suppose a number of equal waves of water to move upon the surface of a stagnant lake, with a certain constant velocity, and to enter a narrow channel leading out of the lake. Suppose then another similar cause to have excited another equal series of waves, which arrive at the same time, with the first. Neither series of waves will destroy the other, but their effects will be combined.”

“The simplicity of the law by which the celestial bodies move, and the relations of their masses and distances, permit analysis to follow their motions up to a certain point; and in order to determine the state of the system of these great bodies in past or future centuries, it suffices for the mathematician that their position and their velocity be given by observation for any moment in time.”

“Yet the widespread planetary theories, advanced by Ptolemy and most other astronomers, although consistent with the numerical data, seemed likewise to present no small difficulty. For these theories were not adequate unless they also conceived certain equalizing circles, which made the planet appear to move at all times with uniform velocity neither on its deferent sphere nor about its own epicycle's center.”