Human Oscillations

“Isochronism in the Oscillations of the Pendulum
Here the exact words of Galilei: ‘The other truly marvelous thing is that the same pendulum oscillates with the same frequency, or just slightly, almost indistinguishably different.’

The regularity of pendular movements opened new horizons on something in which Galilei firmly believed, namely the universality of all movements, whether they be rectilinear, circular or parabolic. This was no mean feat. Since the dawn of civilization, rotating movements have been considered to belong to the heavenly spheres. The consequence of the discovery that all movements are manifestations of the same entity, that of motion, was that stones have the same status as Stars.

The invention of the pendulum marked a turning point in millennia of efforts to improve on the measurement of time. For centuries, millennia indeed, as far back as memory can reach, the measurement of large quantities of time had been entrusted to increasingly large quantities of something, for example, sand in hourglasses. Yet all that was required was to tie a stone to a length of string, fix one end to a plank of wood and push the stone. As a boy in Pisa, Galilei had noted that oscillations were incredibly regular. One of his early works was to construct a pendulum. Varying the length of the string, Galilei managed to build a pendulum that beat like his heart. If we tie a stone to a piece of string one meter long and set the pendulum in motion, we will find that the stone takes one second to travel from one extremity to another. Galilei discovered that if there is parity between weight and length, the oscillation lasts the same amount of time, even if different amplitudes are used, providing the variations in the amplitude of the oscillations are not too large. And so, starting from his heartbeat –the heart as a measure of time- Galilei opened new horizons for humanity, which would lead to time being measured to billionths of a second.”

Maybe the ‘pendulum’ is not the only thing in this life oscillating in regular movements.

Maybe the “universality of all movements, whether they be rectilinear, circular or parabolic” does not only refer to Physics, but also to human history, to life.

Being in Rome, the expansion and collapse of the Roman Empire comes to my mind. How that story repeated itself in a different degree in Italy, and how it repeated itself to a certain extent in the history of other countries around the world. A big boom, the worldwide frantic excitement about certain country booming, the shy growth turning into over-ambitious, unrealistic, overly risky thirst to be more, be stronger, be bigger and faster, the sudden burst that makes thousands of people suffer, maybe even water-falling through generations.

Three stages of the expansion of the Roman Empire (in white).
Maps carved on the walls of the Roman Forum.

As an Argentine, I have experienced this boom-and-burst cycle in my own home-country over and over in my not-that-long life.

"Il Pendolo di Galilei", Giuseppe Gallo con Felice Farina, 2008. Bronzo e Ferro.

Maybe it is not a Physics law, or not an Economics and History law or pattern, but just a natural reflection and fruit of human nature, of our innate circadian cycles.

Maybe we are just like this modern version of an ancient invention… human history keeps repeating itself, fascinatingly or sadly repeating itself, just like this “Bronze and Iron” version of Galilei’s primitive invention -or realization of how this world works.

Maybe just like this modern “Bronze and Iron”, the word is in “one hand” (up to you whose hand you believe it is), however it is people who pass by who make the world/pendulum oscillate at different amplitude, different speed, different rhythm, or just leave there still, hanging from the string.

"Il Pendolo di Galilei", Giuseppe Gallo con Felice Farina, 2008.  Bronzo e Ferro.