John Wilkins

John Wilkins (February 14, 1614 – November 19, 1672) was an English religious and naturalist, as well as the first secretary of the Royal Society and author of several curious essays.

Career

John Wilkins, dean of Ripon, was chaplain to Charles Louis, prince palatine; later bishop of Chester and headmaster of one of Oxford's colleges. On the other hand, he was Oliver Cromwell's brother-in-law, and he is remembered for being the first secretary of the prestigious 'Royal Society'. Londoner.

But Wilkins was the author of some curious books. A versatile man, he was interested in Theology, Cryptography (he is the author of the first work on this subject in the English language), music, the manufacture of transparent beehives (with the idea of studying the behavior of these industrious animals), the possibility of a trip to the Moon (in a Utopia very much of the post-Baconian moment, The discovery of the world on the Moon), as well as the possibility of constructing an artificial world language, a philosophical language, an aspect that in which would persist until the end of the Age of Enlightenment.

Developing this idea, he was the author of the first synthetic language (better said, "artificial philosophical language of universal use") which he made known in his books:

• Mercury, or the secret and swift messenger1641. First English book on cryptography
• An essay toward real character, and a philosophical language1668.
• An alphabetical dictionary1688.

Their ideal language is actually based on two languages: the first of them is written and consists of ideograms (or "real characters"), as shorthand signs that are unpronounceable; the second is phonetic and is intended to be pronounced by the reader.

He is less known for his contributions to the scientific and critical study of the dubious "perpetual motion machines": the problem of creating a theory that allows scientifically focusing the analysis of this type of artifacts (very popular since the Middle Ages) and answering the question about their ability to work was "resolved" by Wilkins, independently of Leonardo Da Vinci (whose treatises on the subject would not be published until the 18th century) and appeared in his book Mathematical Magic, published in English and, therefore, within reach of anyone outside the scholarly circles of the time (who only published their works and studies in Latin).

He died from complications of a kidney stone.

Influence

In relation to his linguistic work, the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges wrote the essay: "The analytical language of John Wilkins", in which he discusses the relevance of classifications. The text was published for the first time in the collection Other Inquisitions, and begins by commenting on the alleged suppression of the article "John Wilkins", in the fourteenth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Some works

• The Discovery of a World in the Moone, 1638, 3rd ed, and appendix "The possibility of a passage thither," 1640
• A Discourse Concerning New Planet, 1640
• Mathematical Magick, 1648
• Of the Principle and Duties of Natural ReligionLondon, 1675
• Essay towards a Real Character and Philosophical Language