The Empress's Search for Knowledge

The Blazing World

This flow traces the Empress's questions about nature and supernatural matters, and the limits she encounters in both.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Questions of Nature Questions of Nature from "The Blazing World". Questions of Nature Testing Explanations The Empress asks her specialists to account for the sun, moon, wind, snow, ice, and other natural phenomena.

Questions of Nature from "The Blazing World". Questions of Nature Testing Explanations The Empress asks her specialists to account for the sun, moon, wind, snow, ice, and other natural phenomena.

Questions of Nature Testing Explanations The Empress asks her specialists to account for the sun, moon, wind, snow, ice, and other natural phenomena. A Questioning Ruler She treats authority as compatible with inquiry, but quickly discovers that her subjects do not agree on causes.

Instruments Challenged Instruments Challenged from "The Blazing World". Instruments Challenged Conflicting Observations Telescopes generate disagreement about the motions, sizes, and appearances of celestial bodies.

Instruments Challenged from "The Blazing World". Instruments Challenged Conflicting Observations Telescopes generate disagreement about the motions, sizes, and appearances of celestial bodies.

Instruments Challenged Conflicting Observations Telescopes generate disagreement about the motions, sizes, and appearances of celestial bodies. A Choice About Trust The Empress orders the instruments broken, then relents when their users insist that artificial inquiry is itself a valued pursuit.

A Matter of Principles A Matter of Principles from "The Blazing World". A Matter of Principles The Search for Origins Ape-men offer rival theories of the ingredients of natural bodies, each claiming a fundamental explanation.

A Matter of Principles from "The Blazing World". A Matter of Principles The Search for Origins Ape-men offer rival theories of the ingredients of natural bodies, each claiming a fundamental explanation.

A Matter of Principles The Search for Origins Ape-men offer rival theories of the ingredients of natural bodies, each claiming a fundamental explanation. The Empress's Account She argues that nature is one infinite, self-moving body whose parts continually change through composition and division.

Questions for Spirits Questions for Spirits from "The Blazing World". Questions for Spirits Supernatural Conversation The Empress questions Immaterial Spirits about souls, matter, knowledge, creation, and divine mysteries.

Questions for Spirits from "The Blazing World". Questions for Spirits Supernatural Conversation The Empress questions Immaterial Spirits about souls, matter, knowledge, creation, and divine mysteries.

Questions for Spirits Supernatural Conversation The Empress questions Immaterial Spirits about souls, matter, knowledge, creation, and divine mysteries. Limits Admitted The Spirits repeatedly acknowledge ignorance, undermining the idea that spiritual status grants absolute knowledge.

The Unfinished Kabbalah The Unfinished Kabbalah from "The Blazing World". The Unfinished Kabbalah A Final Ambition The Empress announces her desire to make a Kabbalah, but the Spirits disappear rather than assist her.

The Unfinished Kabbalah from "The Blazing World". The Unfinished Kabbalah A Final Ambition The Empress announces her desire to make a Kabbalah, but the Spirits disappear rather than assist her.

The Unfinished Kabbalah A Final Ambition The Empress announces her desire to make a Kabbalah, but the Spirits disappear rather than assist her. Counsel Against Speculation The Duchess advises her to leave the project alone, arguing that mystical interpretation may add confusion instead of practical understanding.

During the early convocations

After the astronomers use telescopes

During the chemistry debates

After the Empress's religious reforms

Near the end of the first part