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This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: (1) Pietro Ghezzi, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (2) Peter G Bannister, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (3) Gonzalo Casino, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain and Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain; (4) Alessia Catalani, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (5) Michel Goldman, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (6) Jessica Morley, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; (7) Marie Neunez, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (8) Andreu Prados, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain, Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, and Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain; (9) Mariarosaria Taddeo, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK; (10) Tania Vanzolini, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (11) Luciano Floridi, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Methods Web search and content analysis Results Discussion Conclusion and References Table 1. Example of classification of webpages Table 2. Percentage of vaccine-negative webpages in different SERPs Table 2. Percentage of vaccine-negative webpages in different SERPs Total of 30 webpages for each SERP. Cells are colour coded: median (20%), yellow; maximum (53%), red; minimum (0%), green. *Significantly different from Google.com by two-tailed Fisher’s test corrected for multiple comparison using the method of Benjamini, Krieger and Yekutieli at a false discovery rate of 5%. #significantly different from the localized version of Google.

Online Information of Vaccines: Table 2. Percentage of Vaccine-negative Webpages in Different SERPs

This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: (1) Pietro Ghezzi, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (2) Peter G Bannister, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (3) Gonzalo Casino, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain and Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain; (4) Alessia Catalani, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (5) Michel Goldman, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (6) Jessica Morley, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; (7) Marie Neunez, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (8) Andreu Prados, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain, Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, and Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain; (9) Mariarosaria Taddeo, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK; (10) Tania Vanzolini, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (11) Luciano Floridi, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Methods Web search and content analysis Results Discussion Conclusion and References Table 1. Example of classification of webpages Table 2. Percentage of vaccine-negative webpages in different SERPs Table 1. Example of classification of webpages Positive stance on vaccines https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/do-vaccines-cause-autism https://www.nhs.uk/news/medication/no-link-between-mmr-and-autism-major-study-finds/ https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/mmr-vaccine/ https://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/media-centre/position-statements/mmr-vaccine.aspx https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/autism-studies.html https://vaccine-safety-training.org/mmr-vaccine-increases.html https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa021134 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30986133 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15366972 Negative stance on vaccines https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673605756968/fulltext www.whale.to/vaccine/vaccine_autism_proven.html www.vaccineriskawareness.com/Infant-Vaccines-Produce-Autism-Symptoms-In-Primates https://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2014/07/17/more-of-that-vaccineautism-research-that-doesnt-exist/ edition.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/01/05/autism.vaccines/index.html https://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2018/02/21 nocompulsoryvaccination.com/2014/08/22/vaccine-autism-cover-up/ https://www.newswars.com/vaccine-autism-questioned-by-doctor-congressman-elect/ vaxtruth.org/2011/08/vaccines-do-not-cause-autism/ Neutral stance on vaccines https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/vaccine-and-autism-link.880852/ www.discovermagazine.com/2009/jun/06-why-does-vaccine-autism-controversy-live-on https://www.ecso.org/news/autism-charity-founder-anti-vaccination-campaigner/ https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jun/01/professor-who-links-vaccines-to-autismfunded-through-university-portal https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-vaccines-autism-links-anti-vaxxerus-president-false-vaccine-a8331836.html https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2376879/

Online Information of Vaccines: Table 1. Example of Classification of Webpages

This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: (1) Pietro Ghezzi, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (2) Peter G Bannister, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (3) Gonzalo Casino, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain and Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain; (4) Alessia Catalani, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (5) Michel Goldman, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (6) Jessica Morley, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; (7) Marie Neunez, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (8) Andreu Prados, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain, Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, and Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain; (9) Mariarosaria Taddeo, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK; (10) Tania Vanzolini, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (11) Luciano Floridi, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Methods Web search and content analysis Results Discussion Conclusion and References Table 1. Example of classification of webpages Table 2. Percentage of vaccine-negative webpages in different SERPs Corresponding author: Professor Pietro Ghezzi, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Trafford Centre, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN19RY, UK. Email: p.ghezzi@bsms.ac.uk; phone: +44-(0)1273-873112 Abstract The fact that Internet companies may record our personal data and track our online behaviour for commercial or political purpose has emphasized aspects related to online privacy. This has also led to the development of search engines that promise no tracking and privacy. Search engines also have a major role in spreading low-quality health information such as that of anti-vaccine websites. This study investigates the relationship between search engines’ approach to privacy and the scientific quality of the information they return. We analyzed the first 30 webpages returned searching “vaccines autism” in English, Spanish, Italian and French. The results show that “alternative” search engines (Duckduckgo, Ecosia, Qwant, Swisscows and Mojeek) may return more anti-vaccine pages (10-53%) than Google.com (0%). Some localized versions of Google, however, returned more anti-vaccine webpages (up to 10%) than Google.com. Our study suggests that designing a search engine that is privacy savvy and avoids issues with filter bubbles that can result from user-tracking is necessary but insufficient; instead mechanisms should be developed to test search engines from the perspective of information quality (particularly for health-related webpages), before they can be deemed trustworthy providers of public health information. Introduction The World Health Organization lists vaccine hesitancy as one of the top ten threats to global health in 2019 1, requiring ongoing global monitoring. Despite the fact that the 1998 study which incorrectly suggested that the MMR vaccine could cause autism in children and prompted antivaccine beliefs 2 has now been discredited, misinformation, and indeed, disinformation, about vaccines continues to be published on the Internet perpetuating such beliefs. It has been suggested that this misinformation plays a role in the current low uptake of vaccines in developed countries 3. Understanding whether this is actually the case, and how to address this issue, is crucial as web-based sources of health information may be instrumental to solve the sustainability challenge currently facing health systems across the globe. The accuracy of information provided by a website is a key indicator of its overall information quality (IQ). The broader aspects of IQ have been the subject of many studies 5, but health IQ and trustworthiness of the sources have only partially been characterized 6. Studies looking at the influence of variations in eHealth literacy levels 7 and trust in different sources of online health information2 indicate that the relationship is not linear in all cases, i.e. higher health IQ does not result automatically in higher perceived levels of trustworthiness. For example, in a study by Chen et al. 8, 618 people were recruited to complete a survey which tested their eHealth literacy level, asked them to identify which of 25 sources of health information they used, and how much they trusted each source. The study showed that people with lower eHealth literacy were less likely to trust medical websites (typically higher IQ) and more likely to trust social media, blogs, and celebrity webpages (typically lower IQ). This might seem a spurious result, were it not for the fact that research has shown that those with high eHealth literacy assess more accurately the credibility and relevance of online health information, whereas those with low eHealth literacy often struggle to locate and understand eHealth information 9. This difficulty lowers their self-efficacy 10, distorts their perception of source credibility, and impacts negatively perceived trustworthiness 9, ultimately creating a need for individuals with low eHealth literacy to find an alternative means of determining trustworthiness in online sources of information. One such alternative is social endorsement. Visible social endorsement, e.g. ‘likes,’ 11 enables those with low eHealth literacy to determine trust based on the bandwagon heuristic and assume that, if the source has already been deemed valid by others, then it is safe for them to trust it too 10,12. Traditional medical websites afford those with low eHealth literacy no such alternative means of determining credibility and trust. This suggests that those who are more vulnerable to the real-world effects of both disinformation and misinformation (e.g. declining to vaccinate their children) are more likely to rely on online sources with lower health IQ, which are more prone to spread such inflammatory and inaccurate information. Personalisation of online search results may favour this phenomenon and lead to a vicious cycle where the more one searches and reads dis- and mis-information about vaccines the less one finds and reads scientific information on the same topic. At the same time, there are increasing concerns about the privacy risks associated with Internet search engines storing potentially sensitive and private health information contained within users search histories, combining it with additional information collected for tracking purposes, and using these data for commercial or other purposes 13,14. This creates a public push back against the idea that search engines or public health providers should interfere in the results people see when searching for health information online. This makes it hard to address concerns about health disinformation/misinformation in a way that is at least socially acceptable if not ideally preferable 15. The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) discovered this when its announcement of Amazon Alexa responding with guaranteed high-IQ content from NHS.UK to user voice queries such as “Alexa, how do I treat a migraine,” resulted in a public outcry over privacy infringement 16. This raises the question whether, in the context of online vaccination information, it is possible at all to balance concerns about user privacy and IQ. The following pages seek to lay the foundations for answering this question by reporting on the methodology for, and results of, a study concerning the following research question: “What is the current relationship between search engines’ approach to privacy and the scientific quality of the information they return?”.

Online Information of Vaccines: Abstract and Introduction

This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: (1) Pietro Ghezzi, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (2) Peter G Bannister, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (3) Gonzalo Casino, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain and Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain; (4) Alessia Catalani, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (5) Michel Goldman, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (6) Jessica Morley, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; (7) Marie Neunez, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (8) Andreu Prados, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain, Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, and Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain; (9) Mariarosaria Taddeo, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK; (10) Tania Vanzolini, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (11) Luciano Floridi, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Methods Web search and content analysis Results Discussion Conclusion and References Table 1. Example of classification of webpages Table 2. Percentage of vaccine-negative webpages in different SERPs Conclusion Our analysis shows that while it may well be technically possible to design a search engine that manages to balance privacy-preservation with the promotion of high IQ material, this is currently not the case. The current relationship between privacy-preserving design features of search engines and the IQ of the results they return is inverse (although not proportionally). In instances where this can have a negative impact on public health, as in the example we have provided of the promotion of anti-vaccine misinformation, not intervening to alter the design of the algorithm even if this means sacrificing some degree of user privacy - can lead to severe harm for a large population of user and is, therefore, unethical. Designing a search engine that is privacy savvy and avoids issues with filter bubbles that can result from user-tracking may be a good thing, like designing a car with an engine that does not pollute and is inexpensive to run, and designers should seek to balance the different aspects of search engine design highlighted in Figure 3. However, if the brakes in an environmentally-designed car do not work, the car is unsafe and this negates the positive ethical decisions made by the designers. In a car this is a highly unlikely design outcome, as a car has to undergo several rounds of testing by regulatory agencies before being allowed on the market. This is not yet the case for search engines, which are only regulated from the perspective of data protection – which is primarily interpreted as data security rather than data privacy. Our study suggests that this is necessary but insufficient, and instead mechanisms should be developed to test search engines from the perspective of IQ, (particularly for YMYL webpages) before they can be deemed trustworthy providers of public health information. References 1. World Health Organization. Ten threats to global health in 2019. 2019. https://www.who.int/emergencies/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019 (archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20190627111040/https://www.who.int/emergencies/ten-threats-toglobal-health-in-2019) (accessed 27/06/2019 2. Wakefield AJ, Murch SH, Anthony A, et al. Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children. Lancet 1998; 351(9103): 637-41. 3. Stahl JP, Cohen R, Denis F, et al. The impact of the web and social networks on vaccination. New challenges and opportunities offered to fight against vaccine hesitancy. Med Mal Infect 2016; 46(3): 117-22. 4. Martin GP, Sutton E, Willars J, Dixon-Woods M. Frameworks for change in healthcare organisations: a formative evaluation of the NHS Change Model. Health Serv Manage Res 2013; 26(2-3): 65-75. 5. Illari P, Floridi L. Information quality, data and philosophy. The Philosophy of Information Quality: Springer; 2014: 5-23. 6. Al-Jefri M, Evans R, Uchyigit G, Ghezzi P. What is health information quality? Ethical dimension and perception by users. Frontiers in medicine 2018; 5. 7. Norman CD, Skinner HA. eHEALS: The eHealth Literacy Scale. J Med Internet Res 2006; 8(4): e27. 8. Chen X, Hay JL, Waters EA, et al. Health Literacy and Use and Trust in Health Information. J Health Commun 2018; 23(8): 724-34. 9. Paige SR, Krieger JL, Stellefson ML. The Influence of eHealth Literacy on Perceived Trust in Online Health Communication Channels and Sources. J Health Commun 2017; 22(1): 53-65. 10. Kim J, Park HA. Development of a health information technology acceptance model using consumers' health behavior intention. J Med Internet Res 2012; 14(5): e133. 11. Borah P, Xiao X. The Importance of 'Likes': The Interplay of Message Framing, Source, and Social Endorsement on Credibility Perceptions of Health Information on Facebook. J Health Commun 2018; 23(4): 399-411. 12. Huo C, Zhang M, Ma F. Factors influencing people’s health knowledge adoption in social media: the mediating effect of trust and the moderating effect of health threat. Library Hi Tech 2018; 36(1): 129-51. 13. Chiou L, Tucker C. Search engines and data retention: Implications for privacy and antitrust: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2017. 14. Esteve A. The business of personal data: Google, Facebook, and privacy issues in the EU and the USA. International Data Privacy Law 2017; 7(1): 36-47. 15. Floridi L, Taddeo M. What is data ethics? : The Royal Society; 2016. 16. Moskvitch K. Amazon’s Alexa deal with the NHS can help patients but at what cost? Wired, 2019. (accessed 8/11/2019). 17. Arif N, Al-Jefri M, Bizzi IH, et al. Fake News or Weak Science? Visibility and Characterization of Antivaccine Webpages Returned by Google in Different Languages and Countries. Front Immunol 2018; 9: 1215. 18. Maki A, Evans R, Ghezzi P. Bad news. Analysis of the quality of information on influenza prevention returned by Google in English and Italian. Frontiers in Immunology 2015; 6:616. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2015.00616. 19. Fleiss JL, Levin B, Paik MC. Statistical methods for rates and proportions. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons; 2013. 20. Economist T. Seek and you shall find. Google rewards reputable reporting, not left-wing politics. The Economist 2019; 431(9146): 85. 21. Taddeo M, Floridi L. The Debate on the Moral Responsibilities of Online Service Providers. Science and engineering ethics 2015: 1-29. 22. Mittelstadt BD, Allo P, Taddeo M, Wachter S, Floridi L. The ethics of algorithms: Mapping the debate. Big Data & Society 2016; 3(2): 2053951716679679. 23. Association for Computing Machinery. ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. 2018. https://www.acm.org/code-of-ethics (archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20190627114921/https://www.acm.org/code-of-ethics) (accessed 27/06/2019 2019). 24. Tufekci Z. Algorithmic harms beyond Facebook and Google: Emergent challenges of computational agency. Colo Tech LJ 2015; 13: 203. 25. Hasnas J. Teaching business ethics: The principles approach. Journal of Business Ethics Education 2013; 10: 275-304. 26. Macdonald C, Gavura S. Alternative Medicine and the Ethics Of Commerce. Bioethics 2016; 30(2): 77-84. 27. Taddeo M, Floridi L. The Debate on the Moral Responsibilities of Online Service Providers. Sci Eng Ethics 2016; 22(6): 1575-603. 28. Chigwedere P, Seage GR, 3rd, Gruskin S, Lee TH, Essex M. Estimating the lost benefits of antiretroviral drug use in South Africa. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2008; 49(4): 410-5. 29. Ouyang Y. Student's death highlights gaps in China's health regulations. Lancet Oncol 2016; 17(6): 709. 30. Browne M, Thomson P, Rockloff MJ, Pennycook G. Going against the Herd: Psychological and Cultural Factors Underlying the 'Vaccination Confidence Gap'. PLoS One 2015; 10(9): e0132562. 31. Bean SJ. Emerging and continuing trends in vaccine opposition website content. Vaccine 2011; 29(10): 1874-80.

Online Information of Vaccines: Conclusion and References

This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: (1) Pietro Ghezzi, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (2) Peter G Bannister, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (3) Gonzalo Casino, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain and Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain; (4) Alessia Catalani, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (5) Michel Goldman, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (6) Jessica Morley, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; (7) Marie Neunez, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (8) Andreu Prados, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain, Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, and Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain; (9) Mariarosaria Taddeo, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK; (10) Tania Vanzolini, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (11) Luciano Floridi, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Methods Web search and content analysis Results Discussion Conclusion and References Table 1. Example of classification of webpages Table 2. Percentage of vaccine-negative webpages in different SERPs Discussion The aim of this research was to investigate whether search engines focused on privacy preservation ranked webpages with higher and/or lower levels of IQ (interpreted as EBM based content i.e. vaccine-positive rather than vaccine-negative) differently to the primary commercial search engines. In turn, this answered the research question “What is the current relationship between search engines’ approach to privacy and the scientific quality of the information they return?”. The results indicate that currently privacy-enhancing search engines often give more visibility to webpages promoting vaccine hesitancy or with a clear anti-vaccine position than Google. This is in agreement with the findings from a recent study by the Economist which analyzed 175,000 news links returned by Google to demonstrate that the search engine’s algorithm favorstrustworthy publications 20. Reputation and trustworthiness are key factors included in Google’s ranking algorithm. In 2019, Google published search quality evaluation guidelines, 4 which define webpages containing information that may affect the users’ health or financial stability, as “your money your life” (YMYL) pages. These guidelines reveal that when rating YMYL webpages, Google looks at the three criteria of Expertise-Authority-Trustworthiness (EA-T) and states “High E-A-T information pages on scientific topics should be produced by people or organizations with appropriate scientific expertise and represent well-established scientific consensus on issues where such consensus exists”. Thus, in the case of Google, the bandwagon heuristic mechanism of assessing medical information credibility is working in favour of promoting IQ. This is perhaps because those responsible for driving up the ‘reputation’ of specific websites by, for example, linking to them, have higher levels of eHealth literacy and therefore act as pseudo-gatekeepers protecting those with lower eHealth literacy from poor IQ results by ensuring that websites providing inaccurate online health information have a low ranking in the search results. In the case of privacy-preserving engines this appears not to be working – potentially because they do not track ‘reputation’ factors, which could be seen as proxies for IQ and credibility, e.g. clicks and bounce-rate, and so have no gatekeepers (pseudo or otherwise) working to limit the circulation of misinformation. To our knowledge, the algorithms used by these ‘alternative’ search engines are not public - Qwant states that they use their own algorithms5 - but despite this, we found a large overlap between the SERP of Qwant and those of Bing and Ecosia. Likewise, Ecosia and Swisscows showed a similar overlap (70%) with Bing. This means that it is not possible to check what factors determine the outcome of the decision making processes of the search engines algorithms, and hence identify those elements that contribute to circulate misinformation. Even without being able to check the exact mechanisms for the overall poorer results, the results suggest that, currently, decisions made by search engines to prioritize privacypreservation may have a negative impact on the IQ of results returned to users in health contexts. The pledge to provide independent and unbiased results or not to promote or hide websites based on political or moral interests can be seen as ethically ambiguous, in view of the potential consequences of pointing to scientifically unsound health information. Medical ethics requires that patients give informed consent before treatment and must, therefore, be informed accurately of the risks and benefits associated with treatment, something that is not possible if the search engine provider used by an individual is returning results with low IQ. From this consequentialist perspective, it is inherently unethical choosing not to interfere with a search engine’s ranking algorithm to ensure ‘manually’ that results of higher IQ are prioritized, whilst those of lower IQ are suppressed. This builds on arguments already made in the wider literature about algorithm ethics 21,22. For example, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) code of ethics and professional conduct includes, as a general principle, “avoid harm” along with that of “respect privacy” 23, which aligns with the Hippocratic oath. Specifically, the implication that the current design of privacy-preserving search engine algorithms underestimates the need for evaluation of IQ fits into the wider discussion about algorithmic design and how to ensure design decisions are made to protect and incorporate key values such as IQ. It is necessary, but insufficient, to design search engine algorithms that index purely on ‘relevance’, they must also be designed to index on quality. The challenge lies in the ability to do this in a way that balances the need to accept different perspectives (particularly those that are rooted in different cultural, religious or social ideals) whilst also filtering for IQ. Supporters of such arguments, including the authors, note that this requirement necessitates making the workings of search engine algorithms more transparent 24 to ensure their ethical compliance. Providing information on vaccines that is based on misinformation or disinformation (including studies whose data or conclusions have been shown to be wrong) is a deceptive practice, which goes against the basic tenets of medical and business ethics 25. This is in line with those who argue that the promotion of ‘alternative medicine’ is unethical because it lacks evidence and transparency of clinical efficacy and should be considered ‘false advertising’ 26. Online service providers have a moral responsibilities to ensure that users access health information that is scientifically validate 27. Misinformation and disinformation concerning healthcare circulating on the internet can have severe consequences and lead to widespread harm. Consider the example of South African president Mbeki, who delayed introducing anti-retroviral drugs in favor of alternative medicine based on information obtained from HIV-denialist internet websites, a decision estimated to have resulted in over 300,000 deaths 28. More recently, a cancer patient died in China after following an alternative, non-approved therapy they found using a search engine 29. In response Chinese authorities issued new rules that require search engines to provide “objective, fair and authoritative results”. Moral responsibility follows on the level of harm that misinformation and disinformation on healthcare may cause. It could be argued that there is a greater onus on Google – and other commercial search engine providers – than on alternative search engines to take these considerations into account when designing or interfering with algorithms for the purposes of promoting ethical compliance, given their larger market share. Google currently has over 90% of the worldwide market share6 and therefore has the potential to indirectly ‘cause harm’, through the potential promotion of low IQ webpages on vaccinations, to a great many more people than any of the alternative providers. However, studies have shown that those who hold anti-authoritarian views, openness to (potentially) controversial opinions, and an interest in alternative medicine are, in some cases, already more likely to hold vaccine-hesitant beliefs 30. These are also the individuals who are most likely to use alternative search providers given their sensitivity to privacy and tracking concerns. Therefore, while the alternative providers might reach a proportionally smaller audience – they are reaching an audience that is already more receptive to antivaccine information 31, and therefore more vulnerable to its effects. In other words, unless the alternative providers take steps to rank vaccine-related search results according to IQ, they may cause greater harm to those they do reach, meaning that the net negative impact is still greater even though the number of individuals they reach is smaller.

Online Information of Vaccines: Discussion

This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: (1) Pietro Ghezzi, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (2) Peter G Bannister, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (3) Gonzalo Casino, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain and Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain; (4) Alessia Catalani, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (5) Michel Goldman, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (6) Jessica Morley, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; (7) Marie Neunez, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (8) Andreu Prados, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain, Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, and Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain; (9) Mariarosaria Taddeo, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK; (10) Tania Vanzolini, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (11) Luciano Floridi, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Methods Web search and content analysis Results Discussion Conclusion and References Table 1. Example of classification of webpages Table 2. Percentage of vaccine-negative webpages in different SERPs Web search and content analysis Searches in English were done from Falmer, Sussex, United Kingdom; in Italian from Urbino, Italy; in French from Bruxelles, Belgium; in Spanish from Barcelona, Spain. Each search was done using a logged-out Chrome browser cleared of cookies and previous search history so that the only identification was the IP address and its geolocalization. Additionally, when available, the local version of each search engine was used (e.g. Google.co.uk and Google.it). For searching Google.com, automatic redirection to google.co.uk was avoided by using the URL Google.com/ncr (no-country-redirect). The first 30 URL results from each search engine result page (SERP), excluding those marked as advertisements, and were transferred to a spreadsheet. When a duplicate URL was encountered, it was excluded. Websites were then visited and the content of each page was coded as vaccine-positive, negative or neutral, depending on the stance taken on the connection between vaccines and autism. Webpages recommending vaccination and/or negating the link with autism were coded as “vaccine-positive”. Those promoting vaccine hesitancy, cautioning about the risk of autism or openly anti-vaccine, were coded as “vaccine-negative”. Additionally, webpages that claimed further studies needed to be conducted to clarify the link between vaccines and autism were also coded as “vaccine-negative”, as previous research by {Browne, 2015 #421} has shown that users perceive this as confirmation of the fact that vaccine safety has not been proven. Webpages simply reporting the history of the anti-vaccine movement or a related legal debate were coded as “vaccine-neutral”. Examples of positive, negative and neutral webpages are provided in Table 1. Coding was completed by two raters for each language and inter-rater agreement was calculated with GraphPad, which uses equations 18.16 to 18.20 from Fleiss 19. On a sample of 59 webpages in English, agreement was 85%, with a Kappa of 0.669 (standard error, 0.077) and a 95% confidence interval from 0.518 to 0.820, a strength of agreement is considered to be 'good' 19. In Italian, agreement was 90%, with a Kappa of 0.818 (standard error, 0.067) and a 95% confidence interval from 0.687 to 0.950, a strength of agreement is considered to be 'very good'. In Spanish, agreement was 83%, with a Kappa of 0.609 (standard error, 0.098) and a 95% confidence interval from 0.418 to 0.801, a strength of agreement is considered to be 'very good'. In French, agreement was 89% with a Kappa of 0.746 (standard error, 0.091) and a 95% confidence interval from 0.568 to 0.924. When frequencies of vaccine-negative webpages was compared across different search engines, we used a two-tailed Fisher’s test corrected for multiple comparison using the method of Benjamini, Krieger and Yekutieli and a false discovery rate (FDR) of 5%.

Online Information of Vaccines: Web Search and Content Analysis

This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: (1) Pietro Ghezzi, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (2) Peter G Bannister, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (3) Gonzalo Casino, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain and Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain; (4) Alessia Catalani, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (5) Michel Goldman, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (6) Jessica Morley, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; (7) Marie Neunez, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (8) Andreu Prados, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain, Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, and Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain; (9) Mariarosaria Taddeo, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK; (10) Tania Vanzolini, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (11) Luciano Floridi, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Methods Web search and content analysis Results Discussion Conclusion and References Table 1. Example of classification of webpages Table 2. Percentage of vaccine-negative webpages in different SERPs Results Figure 1 shows the ranking of positive (green), neutral (yellow), and negative (red) websites returned by the different search engines in English, French, Italian and Spanish. A comparison of the percentage of vaccine-negative webpages in different SERPs (Table 2) shows that Google is consistently returning less misinformation, although some of its local version show more vaccine-negative webpages than the English-US version (Google.com). Other search engines return some vaccine-negative webpages with some, like Mojeek in English-UK and Arianna and Virgilio in Italian are the most likely to rank higher webpages with misinformation. In English, the frequency of vaccine-negative webpages in Yahoo, Bing and Mojeek was significantly higher than in Google.com. In Italian, all SERPs had a significantly higher proportion of vaccine-negative webpages compared with Google.com. In French, all search engines returned a significantly higher number of vaccine-negative webpages than Google.com or the local version Google.fr. There were no significant differences for search engines in Spanish. The SERPs of all search engines providers contained a higher proportion of vaccine-negative results than those obtained from Google.com. Even the localized versions of Google (Google.co.uk, Google.it and Google.es) returned more negative pages than the US/international English Google.com. The two Italian-only search engines (Virgilio and Arianna) returned the highest number of negative pages in Italian. In several instances, the same webpages were returned by different search engines, with large overlaps between these results as shown in Figure 2.

Online Information of Vaccines: Results

This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: (1) Pietro Ghezzi, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (2) Peter G Bannister, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (3) Gonzalo Casino, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain and Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain; (4) Alessia Catalani, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (5) Michel Goldman, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (6) Jessica Morley, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; (7) Marie Neunez, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (8) Andreu Prados, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain, Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, and Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain; (9) Mariarosaria Taddeo, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK; (10) Tania Vanzolini, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (11) Luciano Floridi, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Methods Web search and content analysis Results Discussion Conclusion and References Table 1. Example of classification of webpages Table 2. Percentage of vaccine-negative webpages in different SERPs Methods In seeking to answer the above research question, this study builds on previous work which: (a) focuses on the results returned by a search of “vaccines autism” in different countries and languages, and found a great variability in the composition of the webpages returned and their ranking 17; and (b) suggests that whether a webpage promotes a medical treatment based on the practices of evidence-based medicine (EBM; e.g. based on the reporting by Cochrane reviews) can act as a proxy for health IQ. The phrase “vaccines autism” was searched using the main search engines (Google, Bing and Yahoo) and alternative providers which focus on respecting privacy and personal data (Duckduckgo, Mojeek, Qwant and Ecosia3) in four languages/countries (English-UK, Italian, Spanish and French) and the international, US-English version of Google (Google.com). We also used some country- or language-specific search engines. Each webpage returned was classified as vaccine-positive, -negative or –neutral as described in the Table 1

Online Information of Vaccines: Methods

Scientific American, Volume XXXVI., No. 8, February 24, 1877 by Various, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . The Lost Arts in New York here THE LOST ARTS IN NEW YORK. While the objects of ancient art contained in the Castellani collection, recently placed on exhibition in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in this city, are individually of great rarity and archæological value, they derive additional importance from the fact that, viewed conjunctively as a collection, they represent connected histories of two great industrial arts extending over many centuries. Both in the work of the goldsmith and of the potter, we are enabled to trace progress from the earliest stages up to a period when the greatest skill was attained, and even subsequently into the era of decadence. In both industries, we find that ancient and mediæval workmen possessed knowledge which we do not possess; and among Signor Castellani's treasures may be seen handiwork which is the embodiment of two lost arts, the secrets of which the modern world, with all its infinitely superior wisdom, has not yet rediscovered. The productions, in the Castellani collection, of precious metal workers dating from prehistoric epochs, the exact dates of which are wholly unknown, and covering the long period ending in the thirteenth century, are represented by the contents of some twenty cases. The first three of these receptacles bear no dates. The ornaments which they contain are of bronze, amber, silver, and glass (the latter having become converted into opalescent silicic acid), and were found in Præneste (modern Palestrina, Italy), and in the territory which was ancient Etruria. Case No. 4 bears date 700 B.C., and here is a rich treasure of primitive Etruscan and Phœnician ornaments of gold, adorned with granulated work. Signor Castellani considers that the workmanship of these objects is so perfect that it is impossible at the present time to explain the process of execution, and very difficult to imitate it. The ornaments are of two kinds—those for ordinary use and those for funereal purposes. The first are massive, and might be worn for years without injury; the others are extremely delicate. All are made of the purest gold, and their decoration evinces the most consummate skill and taste on the part of the artist. There is, for example, a small flask, shaped something like an antique wine jar, and about five inches in height. It is of beaten gold, and is covered with a pattern intended to imitate the similarly shaped designs of variegated glass of the Græco-Phœnician period. This pattern is entirely produced by minute globules of metal soldered to the surface in tiers of zigzag or Vandyke patterns. Another specimen is a strip of gold covered with granulated lines and bearing a row of birds in relief. On other ornaments are exquisitely carved heads and flowers, produced apparently by hammering on the reverse of the object, but with a delicacy and precision of touch which is simply marvelous. The closest students of this ancient handiwork are entirely at a loss to understand how the processes of melting, soldering, and wire drawing, which were employed in the art, were performed. Modern workmen have failed in their attempts exactly to imitate the old ornaments; and it is certain that the secret of the mechanical agents, whereby it was possible to separate and join pieces of gold hardly perceptible to the naked eye, is lost. Signor Castellani has taken great pains to solve the problem, reading all the treatises of mediæval goldsmiths, inquiring of all classes of Italian jewelers, and experimenting with all kinds of chemicals, in the hope of finding the solder wherewith the minute grains were attached to the surface of the metal. At last he found some of the old processes still employed in a remote district, hidden in the recesses of the Apennines, far from the great towns. Bringing away a few workmen, he gave them much more instruction, and at last succeeded, not perhaps in equalling, but certainly in rivalling the ancient productions. We question whether the Etruscans used fire at all in their soldering, as it would be almost an impossibility to keep the excessively fine tools necessary for the work at a proper heat. Mr. Joshua Rose offers the plausible suggestion that a cold flux was employed, with which the workman followed the lines or dots of his pattern. Then the gold granules were possibly sprinkled over the surface, and adhered only to the solder, the superfluous grains being brushed off after the solder had set. There is also a fragment of a finely woven fabric, made of threads of pure gold, found on the body of a woman in a tomb at Metapontum. This is without doubt the material to which the Psalmist refers in speaking of "the King's daughter" having "clothing of wrought gold;" and in the Pentateuch there is reference to gold threads being used upon looms. As we follow the various objects in the twenty cases above mentioned, the decline of the goldworker's art when the use of enamels came into vogue is evidenced. Continuing on to later periods, the decadence is more marked under the successors of Alexander. In Rome, under the emperors, we find gold used as a mere setting for precious stones, and finally the collection terminates with examples of workmanship of the time of Charlemagne, when the workmen had lost their cunning, and the noble metal had been altogether debased to secondary uses. The second instance where a lost art is exemplified in Signor Castellani's collection is in the glazing of the Gubbio majolica. We have not space here to review the magnificent series of ancient specimens of pottery in detail; and thus it will suffice to say that, beginning with some of the earliest pieces made by the Arabs when they occupied Sicily, from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, the collection presents examples of all the finest types of later mediæval art. Gubbio, where the peculiar kind of majolica above noted was made, is a small town once in the territory of the dukes of Urbino; and in the sixteenth century it became famous for its pottery. This was attributable to the talent of one man, Giorgio Andreoli, who is reputed to have invented the wonderful luster characteristic of the Gubbio ware. The body of majolica is mere common clay; and after the piece is finished on the wheel, it is dried and burnt in a furnace. After the biscuit thus prepared has been dipped in the glaze, the colors are applied on the soft surface of the latter, and the vitrifying process fuses all into a glossy enamel of the color of the pigment. This is still the common practice; and we mention it merely to show that to his pigment and glaze Andreoli must have added some third substance, which rendered the enamel capable of reflecting white light as blue, red, green, or yellow light—in other words, of giving the object a luster of a color wholly different from the tints of the pigment. He evidently could produce any desired color at will, and the effects gained are indescribably beautiful. The Castellani collection contains 130 superb specimens, which glow like jewels. In one, the scene of the nativity of Christ is provided with the figures in low relief, and the exquisite cerulean lustre is imparted to give the effect of moonlight. The rarest pieces are those of which the luster is a delicate green. Some blaze with yellow, as if of gold; others exhibit the brilliancy of the ruby; while others resemble the interior of the pearl oyster shell. Whether this sheen is produced by polarization of the light in some manner, or whether it is at all analogous to fluorescence, is yet to be decided. The impression of the surface with fine microscopic lines might produce an iridescence, but not separate and clearly defined hues. The ware was intended for ornamental purposes, not for household use; and it was suspended against the rich, dark tapestries of the period with which walls were covered, thus aiding, as it were, in illuminating the apartment with its exquisite radiance. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Various (2006). Scientific American, Volume XXXVI., No. 8, February 24, 1877. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19406/pg19406-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

THE LOST ARTS IN NEW YORK

Philochristus: Memoirs of a Disciple of the Lord by Edwin Abbott Abbott is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . Of the doctrine of John the Prophet, how it suited with the people of the land; and how I was baptized of the Prophet. here Of the doctrine of John the Prophet, how it suited with the people of the land; and how I was baptized of the Prophet. As we drew near to Bethany, we noted many hundreds of travellers on the road, the most part on foot, but many on asses and camels; for rich as well as poor were journeying to the new prophet. A full score of Scribes went past us in the space of an hour; there were also some soldiers going to Machærus; here and there was a tax-gatherer; and Baruch took note of certain that were sinners, outcasts from the synagogue of Capernaum. We had now been journeying for a day and a half; and toward the end of the second day, we began to see the valley of Jordan right over against us. Going down a little further, we perceived that there was a great multitude gathered together near the bank of the river; and presently we could clearly discern the prophet himself. Around him stood men in white garments awaiting purification; at a somewhat greater distance, the mixed multitude hearkening to his words. John himself, wearing no tunic, but clad only in a rough mantle of camel’s hair with a girdle of untanned leather, was sitting upon a rock, and thence he was speaking to the people in a clear voice, whereof the sound (though not as yet the meaning) was borne up even to our ears. For a while we stood still, with one consent, marvelling at the sight; for there had not been a prophet in Israel for four hundred years and more; but presently, riding down with all speed, we came into the valley, and joined ourselves to the multitude: and, albeit, we could not come very nigh to John, for the press, yet was there such a stillness among all the assembly, that we very soon understood whatsoever he said. He had been speaking (this I learned afterwards from one of the bystanders) concerning the old wars and troubles which the Lord had sent on Israel; how, according to the saying of the Prophet Isaiah, the Lord had brought the Assyrian against the land as an axe, whereby He had cut down our chosen nobles and princes, even as a woodman felleth the choicest trees. Also how, in the days of the Prophet Jeremiah, the Lord had sent the blast of His wrath upon the people, and had winnowed away the unstable and faithless into captivity, even as a winnower fanneth the chaff from the wheat. The same things were at hand even now, he said: “Now also the axe is laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.” Hereat the multitude cried aloud, saying that it was even so; for indeed we all felt in our hearts that the prophet spake the truth. As the Assyrian axe in the days of old, so now the Roman axe was laid at the root of Israel; and unless the Lord turned away His wrath from us, the nation would be destroyed. But then a stillness fell upon the multitude, as we waited till the prophet should tell us what we should do to turn away the Lord’s wrath. Then the prophet set his face toward the men in white garments, and said to them that they should cleanse their hearts and not their bodies merely, and put away the iniquity of their souls, and he called upon them to confess their sins. He bade them also not to trust in their being children of Abraham, nor in the purifications of the Law, nor in the observances of Sabbaths and feast-days. If, said he, the tree was to escape the axe, it must no longer be barren: “bring forth fruits therefore worthy of repentance, and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” Saying these words, he beckoned to the men in white robes that they should follow him. The multitude made way for them; and he led them down to a place by the side of the river where the reeds and thickets of willow-beds had been rooted up, so that there might be free passage into the water. Then he cried in a clear voice, “Receive the baptism of Repentance,” and bade them plunge themselves beneath the surface. At the same time he offered up prayers to God; and we upon the higher bank said, Amen. When he had made an end of baptizing the men, he went up again to the rock, and thence he again spoke to the people; and as many as desired purification went up to him there. Now while the people were going up by courses, I also began to resolve in my heart that I too would go up in the order of my course. Yet had I sore misgivings in my soul; for it seemed as if I were on the verge of a great sea, launching out into the deep I knew not whither. For the teaching of this new prophet in no wise agreed with the teaching of the Scribes and Lawyers, whom I had reverenced; and if I went with him, I perceived that I must needs go away from them. Now it came to pass that a certain Scribe (who was with our company) perceived the reasonings of my heart, and that I was desirous to receive purification at the hands of John. Therefore he took me by the cloak, and held me back, saying, “Behold, if John the son of Zachariah speaketh well, the Scribes have spoken ill, and have taught ill. Yea, and all thy study of the Law, and thy painful meditations therein, and thy nightly watchings and weariness of the flesh have all been in vain. But wilt thou lightly forsake the teaching of the Law and the Traditions of the Fathers, and all for the sake of one new prophet, concerning whom thou knowest not as yet even that he is a prophet? And wherefore shouldst thou thus seek after prophets? Knowest thou not that the Inscrutable (blessed be He) decreed that, after the destruction of the first Temple, there should be no longer with us the Shekinah, nor the Holy Spirit, nor the Urim and Thummim; wherefore it is said, ‘From the fourth year of King Darius, the Holy Spirit no longer rested upon the prophets.’ But in the place of the prophets (who were not always with Israel) thou hast now the Scribes always with thee, according as it is said, ‘Moses received the Law from Sinai, and the elders delivered it to the prophets, and the prophets to the men of the Great Congregation;’ and it is also said, ‘from the time that the Temple was destroyed, the gift of prophecy was taken from the prophets and given to the Wise.’ ” His words moved me, and I restrained myself for the time. Yet on the other side there rose in my heart a certain Voice, which seemed to come from the Lord, saying, “The words of John are right, and they are simple, converting the soul. Moreover, they are fit for the people of the land, and not only for Scribes and scholars and pedants. But that he is a prophet, thine own heart convinceth thee; for even when thou hearest him, thou knowest that he speaketh not from himself, but that he is taught from above. And did not also the prophets of old speak like things, saying, ‘Rend your hearts, and not your garments,’ and bidding Israel not to offer sacrifice, but to shew mercy, and not to observe Sabbaths, but to do judgment and relieve the oppressed?” So between the words of the Scribe and the words of the Voice within me I was in a great strait. Howbeit for the time I restrained myself and did nothing, but remained where I was, giving heed to the words of the Prophet. Now it came to pass that certain of the soldiers from Machærus went up: and all we in the crowd waited silently expecting that the Prophet would deny purification to these men, except they should first promise to depart from the army of Herod. But he commanded them only to abstain from robbery and outrage. Upon this certain tax-gatherers (whom the Romans call publicans) took confidence, and they too went up. And now indeed all we that looked on, expected that there should have been a great outburst of wrath and of cursing upon them, as upon traitors and apostates from Israel. But the Prophet received these also, and bade them exact no more than that which was appointed to them. To others he said that they were to observe that saying in the Traditions which enjoineth the doing of kindnesses; that is to say, they were to clothe the naked and to feed the hungry, and the like. Hereupon arose a murmuring among certain of the Scribes from Jerusalem, who were standing nigh to the place where I was: and I heard the voice of Hezekiah son of Zachariah saying in an austere manner, “It is said, ‘On three things the world is stayed; on the Law, and on the Worship, and on the bestowal of Kindnesses:’ what meaneth this teacher of strange things therefore, to subvert the Law and the Worship, in that he maketh no mention thereof, but he exalteth Kindnesses to the skies?” Then another said, “He allegeth the authority of no teacher; why therefore hearken we to him?” But a third said, “Peradventure he is a prophet, and is taught of God.” But Hezekiah made answer, “The time of prophets hath passed. Besides, he hath wrought no sign from Heaven; how know we therefore that he is a true prophet?” These things spake the Scribes together, as we went back from the river to the place where our tents were pitched; for by this time the sun was setting. But all that night long my thoughts still beat on the doctrine of John; and I marvelled much whence it came that the people so flocked to John as to a prophet; yea, and that my own heart also was so drawn towards him, although he had wrought no sign in heaven, nor so much as driven out any unclean spirit. But the reason seemed to me partly in himself. For his very countenance, yea, even his gesture and carriage, proclaimed him to be, not a student of books, but one that was taught of God; and yet further the hardships that he endured, and the manner of his clothing and food (for he fed on nothing but locusts and wild honey) shewed to all men that he did not prophesy for gain. But another reason lay in his doctrine. For the doctrine of John was simple and just, commending itself to the consciences of men; not flattering any nor busying itself with abstruse matters; but fit for the work of life and the paths of busy men, able, as it seemed, to carry purity and righteousness even to the side of the plough, and into the ranks of armed men, and into the shops and offices of tradesmen and tax-gatherers. For this cause the teaching of John won a way into the hearts of men of every degree, save only certain of the Pharisees. So when I thought on all these things, I began to be convinced that he was sent of God. But when I went forth on the morrow to behold the purification of the disciples and to hear the teaching of the Prophet, my heart was even more drawn unto him. For I compared him with Abuyah the son of Elishah, and with the ruler of the synagogue, that had driven away the tax-gatherers and sinners from the teaching of repentance; and it seemed to me that John was as much better than they, as light is better than darkness. For though he were of a stern countenance and austere in aspect, yet was the austerity of John in no wise as the austerity of Abuyah the son of Elishah. For Abuyah was sour and peevish, for that he ever loved to find fault, and because he desired to obtain occasion for rebuking, to the intent that he might persuade himself that he was better than others: but John seemed to be austere only because he hated sin. So I no more delayed, but went up with the rest, about the second hour of the day; and I confessed my sins and received purification. After we had been purified, I stood with the rest, clothed in white garments, wholly given up to meditating upon the new life whereto we seemed to have risen out of the waters. But I was aroused by hearing these words spoken with a great vehemency of anger: “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Great indeed was my astonishment when, raising myself to see what they were to whom the Prophet was thus speaking, I discerned the faces of some of the most famous Scribes in Jerusalem. It seemed that they had been questioning him who he was and by what authority he taught these things. But the Prophet rebuked them with exceeding indignation. For he said that they were even as barren trees, full of leaf, but bearing no fruit, fit for naught but to be cut down and cast into the fire. Then they went backward, being put to utter confusion; but John turned to us that had been purified, and spake to us a second time as follows: “I am not the Christ. Call not yourselves my disciples: for I myself am naught but a herald in the wilderness preparing the way for the Great King. But verily the King cometh. Therefore weep no more for the evils of sin. The rough ways of oppression shall be made smooth; the crooked paths of deceit and violence shall be made straight. Let the daughter of Jerusalem rejoice greatly, for her salvation is nigh. For the glory of the Lord draweth near, and all flesh shall see it together. Notwithstanding think not of me as your deliverer. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, and the Bridegroom of Sion is the Redeemer, who shall espouse her in the day of salvation. I am but the friend of the Bridegroom. Nay, I am but his servant, not worthy to follow him as slave, nor to loose the latchet of his sandal. Ye ask in your hearts who I am. But think not of me, for I am as one that is no man. I am naught but a voice, even the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’ ” Then he warned us that had been purified not to suppose that we needed no further purification. Speaking of the old days of Joshua the Conqueror, he brought to our minds how our fathers had two kinds of purification; one inferior, with water, wherewith they purified things perishable, such as garments and the like; but a more searching purification, wherewith they purified silver and gold and other imperishable things, and this was with fire. Even so, he said, it was given to him to purify only with the washing of water; but one would come after him, the Messiah and Redeemer; and he would purify us with fire and with the Holy Spirit. In the evening, when we, that had received the purification, conversed together in the inn at Jericho, there was much questioning whence the Messiah should come, and by what signs he should be known. But most of the Scribes did not believe that John was a true prophet; and Hezekiah protested that he ought not to be called a prophet, for he had wrought no sign, not even on earth, much less in heaven. But this he said not openly, for fear of the multitude; for almost all believed John to be a prophet. But on the morrow, when we turned ourselves to go northward, heaviness fell upon my heart, and all things seemed flat and unprofitable. All our counsels of action, whether to join ourselves to the army of Herod, or straightway to rise up against the Romans, behold, they now seemed no longer the wisdom of men, but rather the vain talk of children. For what could Barabbas and the sons of Judas do, in comparison with the true Redemption which had been prophesied by the Prophet; or how could they avail to bring about the day of that Redemption? It seemed to be our wisdom to wait for the Lord, who alone could send the true Redeemer. And yet, on the other hand, how was it possible for one that loved Israel and longed after righteousness, to look patiently upon the servitude of his country? Hence I loathed the thought of living in peace at home. When I returned to Sepphoris, I applied myself to labour and to study, if perchance I might settle my thoughts; but I could not, for I was divided between two minds. At one time I was minded to obey John and his teaching, and to set no store on the teaching of the Scribes, nor to give heed to what were called the “light precepts” of the Fathers, such as those concerning tassels and fringes, and the purification of vessels, and the observance of the Sabbath for things without life, and the like; and it seemed nobler to cast these things away, and to say that mercy, and judgment, and truth, and kindness, were the great commandments, and whoso observeth these, observeth all. But then at other times, when I considered with myself how frail and fitful a thing is man, how impotent for all good ends, and how easily led aside from the right path by passion and by ignorance, then I trembled at the thought of casting down the fences which had been raised by the generations of the wise; for I feared lest I should be guilty of presumption, and should fall, and be swallowed up with an utter destruction. But in the minds of other men (and not in me alone) there was at this time much unsettlement and many searchings of heart. For many others in Sepphoris became ill-content with the teaching of the Scribes, and with the performance of the precepts of the Law. Some men even said that, when the Messiah came, there should be no more Law. So, if, even before, men had been expecting the Messiah and looking forward to the Redemption of Sion, much more did they do so now, after the preaching of John the Prophet; insomuch that the whole of Galilee became as dry fuel ready for the flame: and nothing was wanting save a spark of fire from heaven to kindle the whole into a great blaze. By this time I had numbered thirty-four years, or something more; and it was the fourteenth year of the Emperor Tiberius. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Edwin Abbott Abbott (2015). Philochristus: Memoirs of a Disciple of the Lord. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/48843/pg48843-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

Of the doctrine of John the Prophet, how it suited with the people of the land;

Topographical Notes

The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci — Complete by Leonardo da Vinci, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . PERSPECTIVE OF COLOUR AND AERIAL PERSPECTIVE Chapter VI. ﻿PERSPECTIVE OF COLOUR AND AERIAL PERSPECTIVE Leonardo distinctly separates these branches of his subject, as may be seen in the beginning of No. 295. Attempts have been made to cast doubts on the results which Leonardo arrived at by experiment on the perspective of colour, but not with justice, as may be seen from the original text of section 294. The question as to the composition of the atmosphere, which is inseparable from a discussion on Aerial Perspective, forms a separate theory which is treated at considerable length. Indeed the author enters into it so fully that we cannot escape the conviction that he must have dwelt with particular pleasure on this part of his subject, and that he attached great importance to giving it a character of general applicability. General rules (289—291). 289. The variety of colour in objects cannot be discerned at a great distance, excepting in those parts which are directly lighted up by the solar rays. 290. As to the colours of objects: at long distances no difference is perceptible in the parts in shadow. 291. OF THE VISIBILITY OF COLOURS. Which colour strikes most? An object at a distance is most conspicuous, when it is lightest, and the darkest is least visible. An exceptional case. 292. Of the edges [outlines] of shadows. Some have misty and ill defined edges, others distinct ones. No opaque body can be devoid of light and shade, except it is in a mist, on ground covered with snow, or when snow is falling on the open country which has no light on it and is surrounded with darkness. And this occurs [only] in spherical bodies, because in other bodies which have limbs and parts, those sides of limbs which face each other reflect on each other the accidental [hue and tone] of their surface. An experiment. 293. ALL COLOURS ARE AT A DISTANCE UNDISTINGUISHABLE AND UNDISCERNIBLE. All colours at a distance are undistinguishable in shadow, because an object which is not in the highest light is incapable of transmitting its image to the eye through an atmosphere more luminous than itself; since the lesser brightness must be absorbed by the greater. For instance: We, in a house, can see that all the colours on the surface of the walls are clearly and instantly visible when the windows of the house are open; but if we were to go out of the house and look in at the windows from a little distance to see the paintings on those walls, instead of the paintings we should see an uniform deep and colourless shadow. The practice of the prospettiva de colori. 294. HOW A PAINTER SHOULD CARRY OUT THE PERSPECTIVE OF COLOUR IN PRACTICE. In order to put into practice this perspective of the variation and loss or diminution of the essential character of colours, observe at every hundred braccia some objects standing in the landscape, such as trees, houses, men and particular places. Then in front of the first tree have a very steady plate of glass and keep your eye very steady, and then, on this plate of glass, draw a tree, tracing it over the form of that tree. Then move it on one side so far as that the real tree is close by the side of the tree you have drawn; then colour your drawing in such a way as that in colour and form the two may be alike, and that both, if you close one eye, seem to be painted on the glass and at the same distance. Then, by the same method, represent a second tree, and a third, with a distance of a hundred braccia between each. And these will serve as a standard and guide whenever you work on your own pictures, wherever they may apply, and will enable you to give due distance in those works. [14] But I have found that as a rule the second is 4/5 of the first when it is 20 braccia beyond it. [Footnote: This chapter is one of those copied in the Manuscript of the Vatican library Urbinas 1270, and the original text is rendered here with no other alterations, but in the orthography. H. LUDWIG, in his edition of this copy translates lines 14 and 15 thus: "Ich finde aber als Regel, dass der zweite um vier Funftel des ersten abnimmt, wenn er namlich zwanzig Ellen vom ersten entfernt ist (?)". He adds in his commentary: "Das Ende der Nummer ist wohl jedenfalls verstummelt". However the translation given above shows that it admits of a different rendering.] The rules of aerial perspective (295—297). 295. OF AERIAL PERSPECTIVE. There is another kind of perspective which I call Aerial Perspective, because by the atmosphere we are able to distinguish the variations in distance of different buildings, which appear placed on a single line; as, for instance, when we see several buildings beyond a wall, all of which, as they appear above the top of the wall, look of the same size, while you wish to represent them in a picture as more remote one than another and to give the effect of a somewhat dense atmosphere. You know that in an atmosphere of equal density the remotest objects seen through it, as mountains, in consequence of the great quantity of atmosphere between your eye and them—appear blue and almost of the same hue as the atmosphere itself [Footnote 10: quado il sole e per leuante (when the sun is in the East). Apparently the author refers here to morning light in general. H. LUDWIG however translates this passage from the Vatican copy "wenn namlich die Sonne (dahinter) im Osten steht".] when the sun is in the East [Footnote 11: See Footnote 10]. Hence you must make the nearest building above the wall of its real colour, but the more distant ones make less defined and bluer. Those you wish should look farthest away you must make proportionately bluer; thus, if one is to be five times as distant, make it five times bluer. And by this rule the buildings which above a [given] line appear of the same size, will plainly be distinguished as to which are the more remote and which larger than the others. 296. The medium lying between the eye and the object seen, tinges that object with its colour, as the blueness of the atmosphere makes the distant mountains appear blue and red glass makes objects seen beyond it, look red. The light shed round them by the stars is obscured by the darkness of the night which lies between the eye and the radiant light of the stars. 297. Take care that the perspective of colour does not disagree with the size of your objects, hat is to say: that the colours diminish from their natural [vividness] in proportion as the objects at various distances dimmish from their natural size. On the relative density of the atmosphere (298—290). 298. WHY THE ATMOSPHERE MUST BE REPRESENTED AS PALER TOWARDS THE LOWER PORTION. Because the atmosphere is dense near the earth, and the higher it is the rarer it becomes. When the sun is in the East if you look towards the West and a little way to the South and North, you will see that this dense atmosphere receives more light from the sun than the rarer; because the rays meet with greater resistance. And if the sky, as you see it, ends on a low plain, that lowest portion of the sky will be seen through a denser and whiter atmosphere, which will weaken its true colour as seen through that medium, and there the sky will look whiter than it is above you, where the line of sight travels through a smaller space of air charged with heavy vapour. And if you turn to the East, the atmosphere will appear darker as you look lower down because the luminous rays pass less freely through the lower atmosphere. 299. OF THE MODE OF TREATING REMOTE OBJECTS IN PAINTING. It is easy to perceive that the atmosphere which lies closest to the level ground is denser than the rest, and that where it is higher up, it is rarer and more transparent. The lower portions of large and lofty objects which are at a distance are not much seen, because you see them along a line which passes through a denser and thicker section of the atmosphere. The summits of such heights are seen along a line which, though it starts from your eye in a dense atmosphere, still, as it ends at the top of those lofty objects, ceases in a much rarer atmosphere than exists at their base; for this reason the farther this line extends from your eye, from point to point the atmosphere becomes more and more rare. Hence, O Painter! when you represent mountains, see that from hill to hill the bases are paler than the summits, and in proportion as they recede beyond each other make the bases paler than the summits; while, the higher they are the more you must show of their true form and colour. On the colour of the atmosphere (300-307). 300. OF THE COLOUR OF THE ATMOSPHERE. I say that the blueness we see in the atmosphere is not intrinsic colour, but is caused by warm vapour evaporated in minute and insensible atoms on which the solar rays fall, rendering them luminous against the infinite darkness of the fiery sphere which lies beyond and includes it. And this may be seen, as I saw it by any one going up [Footnote 5: With regard to the place spoken of as M'oboso (compare No. 301 line 20) its identity will be discussed under Leonardo's Topographical notes in Vol. II.] Monboso, a peak of the Alps which divide France from Italy. The base of this mountain gives birth to the four rivers which flow in four different directions through the whole of Europe. And no mountain has its base at so great a height as this, which lifts itself almost above the clouds; and snow seldom falls there, but only hail in the summer, when the clouds are highest. And this hail lies [unmelted] there, so that if it were not for the absorption of the rising and falling clouds, which does not happen twice in an age, an enormous mass of ice would be piled up there by the hail, and in the middle of July I found it very considerable. There I saw above me the dark sky, and the sun as it fell on the mountain was far brighter here than in the plains below, because a smaller extent of atmosphere lay between the summit of the mountain and the sun. Again as an illustration of the colour of the atmosphere I will mention the smoke of old and dry wood, which, as it comes out of a chimney, appears to turn very blue, when seen between the eye and the dark distance. But as it rises, and comes between the eye and the bright atmosphere, it at once shows of an ashy grey colour; and this happens because it no longer has darkness beyond it, but this bright and luminous space. If the smoke is from young, green wood, it will not appear blue, because, not being transparent and being full of superabundant moisture, it has the effect of condensed clouds which take distinct lights and shadows like a solid body. The same occurs with the atmosphere, which, when overcharged with moisture appears white, and the small amount of heated moisture makes it dark, of a dark blue colour; and this will suffice us so far as concerns the colour of the atmosphere; though it might be added that, if this transparent blue were the natural colour of the atmosphere, it would follow that wherever a larger mass air intervened between the eye and the element of fire, the azure colour would be more intense; as we see in blue glass and in sapphires, which are darker in proportion as they are larger. But the atmosphere in such circumstances behaves in an opposite manner, inasmuch as where a greater quantity of it lies between the eye and the sphere of fire, it is seen much whiter. This occurs towards the horizon. And the less the extent of atmosphere between the eye and the sphere of fire, the deeper is the blue colour, as may be seen even on low plains. Hence it follows, as I say, that the atmosphere assumes this azure hue by reason of the particles of moisture which catch the rays of the sun. Again, we may note the difference in particles of dust, or particles of smoke, in the sun beams admitted through holes into a dark chamber, when the former will look ash grey and the thin smoke will appear of a most beautiful blue; and it may be seen again in in the dark shadows of distant mountains when the air between the eye and those shadows will look very blue, though the brightest parts of those mountains will not differ much from their true colour. But if any one wishes for a final proof let him paint a board with various colours, among them an intense black; and over all let him lay a very thin and transparent [coating of] white. He will then see that this transparent white will nowhere show a more beautiful blue than over the black—but it must be very thin and finely ground. [Footnote 7: reta here has the sense of malanno.] 301. Experience shows us that the air must have darkness beyond it and yet it appears blue. If you produce a small quantity of smoke from dry wood and the rays of the sun fall on this smoke, and if you then place behind the smoke a piece of black velvet on which the sun does not shine, you will see that all the smoke which is between the eye and the black stuff will appear of a beautiful blue colour. And if instead of the velvet you place a white cloth smoke, that is too thick smoke, hinders, and too thin smoke does not produce, the perfection of this blue colour. Hence a moderate amount of smoke produces the finest blue. Water violently ejected in a fine spray and in a dark chamber where the sun beams are admitted produces these blue rays and the more vividly if it is distilled water, and thin smoke looks blue. This I mention in order to show that the blueness of the atmosphere is caused by the darkness beyond it, and these instances are given for those who cannot confirm my experience on Monboso. 302. When the smoke from dry wood is seen between the eye of the spectator and some dark space [or object], it will look blue. Thus the sky looks blue by reason of the darkness beyond it. And if you look towards the horizon of the sky, you will see the atmosphere is not blue, and this is caused by its density. And thus at each degree, as you raise your eyes above the horizon up to the sky over your head, you will see the atmosphere look darker [blue] and this is because a smaller density of air lies between your eye and the [outer] darkness. And if you go to the top of a high mountain the sky will look proportionately darker above you as the atmosphere becomes rarer between you and the [outer] darkness; and this will be more visible at each degree of increasing height till at last we should find darkness. That smoke will look bluest which rises from the driest wood and which is nearest to the fire and is seen against the darkest background, and with the sunlight upon it. 303. A dark object will appear bluest in proportion as it has a greater mass of luminous atmosphere between it and the eye. As may be seen in the colour of the sky. 304. The atmosphere is blue by reason of the darkness above it because black and white make blue. 305. In the morning the mist is denser above than below, because the sun draws it upwards; hence tall buildings, even if the summit is at the same distance as the base have the summit invisible. Therefore, also, the sky looks darkest [in colour] overhead, and towards the horizon it is not blue but rather between smoke and dust colour. The atmosphere, when full of mist, is quite devoid of blueness, and only appears of the colour of clouds, which shine white when the weather is fine. And the more you turn to the west the darker it will be, and the brighter as you look to the east. And the verdure of the fields is bluish in a thin mist, but grows grey in a dense one. The buildings in the west will only show their illuminated side, where the sun shines, and the mist hides the rest. When the sun rises and chases away the haze, the hills on the side where it lifts begin to grow clearer, and look blue, and seem to smoke with the vanishing mists; and the buildings reveal their lights and shadows; through the thinner vapour they show only their lights and through the thicker air nothing at all. This is when the movement of the mist makes it part horizontally, and then the edges of the mist will be indistinct against the blue of the sky, and towards the earth it will look almost like dust blown up. In proportion as the atmosphere is dense the buildings of a city and the trees in a landscape will look fewer, because only the tallest and largest will be seen. Darkness affects every thing with its hue, and the more an object differs from darkness, the more we see its real and natural colour. The mountains will look few, because only those will be seen which are farthest apart; since, at such a distance, the density increases to such a degree that it causes a brightness by which the darkness of the hills becomes divided and vanishes indeed towards the top. There is less [mist] between lower and nearer hills and yet little is to be distinguished, and least towards the bottom. 306. The surface of an object partakes of the colour of the light which illuminates it; and of the colour of the atmosphere which lies between the eye and that object, that is of the colour of the transparent medium lying between the object and the eye; and among colours of a similar character the second will be of the same tone as the first, and this is caused by the increased thickness of the colour of the medium lying between the object and the eye. 307. OF PAINTING. Of various colours which are none of them blue that which at a great distance will look bluest is the nearest to black; and so, conversely, the colour which is least like black will at a great distance best preserve its own colour. Hence the green of fields will assume a bluer hue than yellow or white will, and conversely yellow or white will change less than green, and red still less. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Leonardo da Vinci (2004). The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci — Complete. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5000/pg5000.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

PERSPECTIVE OF COLOUR AND AERIAL PERSPECTIVE

THE SWALLOW AND THE SPARROW

Of the two Contemporary Empires of the Babylonians and Medes

Of the relation which the Prophecy of John hath to those of Daniel

Of the Mahuzzims, honoured by the King who doth according to his will

Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John by Isaac Newton, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . Of the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks Of the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. The Vision of the Image composed of four Metals was given first to Nebuchadnezzar, and then to Daniel in a dream: and Daniel began then to be celebrated for revealing of secrets, Ezek. xxviii. 3. The Vision of the four Beasts, and of the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, was also given to Daniel in a dream. That of the Ram and the He-Goat appeared to him in the day time, when he was by the bank of the river Ulay; and was explained to him by the prophetic Angel Gabriel. It concerns the Prince of the host, and the Prince of Princes: and now in the first year of Darius the Mede over Babylon, the same prophetic Angel appears to Daniel again, and explains to him what is meant by the Son of man, by the Prince of the host, and the Prince of Princes. The Prophecy of the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven relates to the second coming of Christ; that of the Prince of the host relates to his first coming: and this Prophecy of the Messiah, in explaining them, relates to both comings, and assigns the times thereof. This Prophecy, like all the rest of Daniel's, consists of two parts, an introductory Prophecy and an explanation thereof; the whole I thus translate and interpret. 'Seventy weeks are cut out upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, to expiate iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, to consummate the Vision and the Prophet, and to anoint the most Holy. 'Know also and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to cause to return and to build Jerusalem, unto the Anointed the Prince, shall be seven weeks. 'Yet threescore and two weeks shall it return, and the street be built and the wall; but in troublesome times: and after the threescore and two weeks, the Anointed shall be cut off, and it shall not be his; but the people of a Prince to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary: and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war, desolations are determined. 'Yet shall he confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in half a week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease: and upon a wing of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that which is determined be poured upon the desolate.' Seventy weeks are cut out upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, &c. Here, by putting a week for seven years, are reckoned 490 years from the time that the dispersed Jews should be re-incorporated into a people and a holy city, until the death and resurrection of Christ; whereby transgression should be finished, and sins ended, iniquity be expiated, and everlasting righteousness brought in, and this Vision be accomplished, and the Prophet consummated, that Prophet whom the Jews expected; and whereby the most Holy should be anointed, he who is therefore in the next words called the Anointed, that is, the Messiah, or the Christ. For by joining the accomplishment of the vision with the expiation of sins, the 490 years are ended with the death of Christ. Now the dispersed Jews became a people and city when they first returned into a polity or body politick; and this was in the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, when Ezra returned with a body of Jews from captivity, and revived the Jewish worship; and by the King's commission created Magistrates in all the land, to judge and govern the people according to the laws of God and the King, Ezra vii. 25. There were but two returns from captivity, Zerubbabel's and Ezra's; in Zerubbabel's they had only commission to build the Temple, in Ezra's they first became a polity or city by a government of their own. Now the years of this Artaxerxes began about two or three months after the summer solstice, and his seventh year fell in with the third year of the eightieth Olympiad; and the latter part thereof, wherein Ezra went up to Jerusalem, was in the year of the Julian Period 4257. Count the time from thence to the death of Christ, and you will find it just 490 years. If you count in Judaic years commencing in autumn, and date the reckoning from the first autumn after Ezra's coming to Jerusalem, when he put the King's decree in execution; the death of Christ will fall on the year of the Julian Period 4747, Anno Domini 34; and the weeks will be Judaic weeks, ending with sabbatical years; and this I take to be the truth: but if you had rather place the death of Christ in the year before, as is commonly done, you may take the year of Ezra's journey into the reckoning. Know also and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to cause to return and to build Jerusalem, unto the Anointed the Prince, shall be seven weeks. The former part of the Prophecy related to the first coming of Christ, being dated to his coming as a Prophet; this being dated to his coming to be Prince or King, seems to relate to his second coming. There, the Prophet was consummate, and the most holy anointed: here, he that was anointed comes to be Prince and to reign. For Daniel's Prophecies reach to the end of the world; and there is scarce a Prophecy in the Old Testament concerning Christ, which doth not in something or other relate to his second coming. If divers of the antients, as Irenæus, Julius Africanus, Hippolytus the martyr, and Apollinaris Bishop of Laodicea, applied the half week to the times of Antichrist; why may not we, by the same liberty of interpretation, apply the seven weeks to the time when Antichrist shall be destroyed by the brightness of Christ's coming? The Israelites in the days of the antient Prophets, when the ten Tribes were led into captivity, expected a double return; and that at the first the Jews should build a new Temple inferior to Solomon's, until the time of that age should be fulfilled; and afterwards they should return from all places of their captivity, and build Jerusalem and the Temple gloriously, Tobit xiv. 4, 5, 6: and to express the glory and excellence of this city, it is figuratively said to be built of precious stones, Tobit xiii. 16, 17, 18. Isa. liv. 11, 12. Rev. xi. and called the New Jerusalem, the Heavenly Jerusalem, the Holy City, the Lamb's Wife, the City of the Great King, the City into which the Kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour. Now while such a return from captivity was the expectation of Israel, even before the times of Daniel, I know not why Daniel should omit it in his Prophecy. This part of the Prophecy being therefore not yet fulfilled, I shall not attempt a particular interpretation of it, but content myself with observing, that as the seventy and the sixty two weeks were Jewish weeks, ending with sabbatical years; so the seven weeks are the compass of a Jubilee, and begin and end with actions proper for a Jubilee, and of the highest nature for which a Jubilee can be kept: and that since the commandment to return and to build Jerusalem, precedes the Messiah the Prince 49 years; it may perhaps come forth not from the Jews themselves, but from some other kingdom friendly to them, and precede their return from captivity, and give occasion to it; and lastly, that this rebuilding of Jerusalem and the waste places of Judah is predicted in Micah vii. 11. Amos ix. 11, 14. Ezek. xxxvi. 33, 35, 36, 38. Isa. liv. 3, 11, 12. lv. 12. lxi. 4. lxv. 18, 21,22. and Tobit xiv. 5. and that the return from captivity and coming of the Messiah and his kingdom are described in Daniel vii. Rev. xix. Acts i. Mat. xxiv. Joel iii. Ezek. xxxvi. xxxvii. Isa. lx. lxii. lxiii. lxv. and lxvi. and many other places of scripture. The manner I know not. Let time be the Interpreter. Yet threescore and two weeks shall it return, and the street be built and the wall, but in troublesome times: and after the threescore and two weeks the Messiah shall be cut off, and it shall not be his; but the people of a Prince to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, &c. Having foretold both comings of Christ, and dated the last from their returning and building Jerusalem; to prevent the applying that to the building Jerusalem by Nehemiah, he distinguishes this from that, by saying that from this period to the Anointed shall be, not seven weeks, but threescore and two weeks, and this not in prosperous but in troublesome times; and at the end of these Weeks the Messiah shall not be the Prince of the Jews, but be cut off; and Jerusalem not be his, but the city and sanctuary be destroyed. Now Nehemiah came to Jerusalem in the 20th year of this same Artaxerxes, while Ezra still continued there, Nehem. xii. 36, and found the city lying waste, and the houses and wall unbuilt, Nehem. ii. 17. vii. 4, and finished the wall the 25th day of the month Elul, Nehem. vi. 15, in the 28th year of the King, that is, in September in the year of the Julian Period 4278. Count now from this year threescore and two weeks of years, that is 434 years, and the reckoning will end in September in the year of the Julian Period 4712 which is the year in which Christ was born, according to Clemens Alexandrinus, Irenæus, Eusebius, Epiphanius, Jerome, Orosius, Cassiodorus, and other antients; and this was the general opinion, till Dionysius Exiguus invented the vulgar account, in which Christ's birth is placed two years later. If with some you reckon that Christ was born three or four years before the vulgar account, yet his birth will fall in the latter part of the last week, which is enough. How after these weeks Christ was cut off and the city and sanctuary destroyed by the Romans, is well known. Yet shall he confirm the covenant with many for one week. He kept it, notwithstanding his death, till the rejection of the Jews, and calling of Cornelius and the Gentiles in the seventh year after his passion. And in half a week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease; that is, by the war of the Romans upon the Jews: which war, after some commotions, began in the 13th year of Nero, A.D. 67, in the spring, when Vespasian with an army invaded them; and ended in the second year of Vespasian, A.D. 70, in autumn, Sept. 7, when Titus took the city, having burnt the Temple 27 days before: so that it lasted three years and an half. And upon a wing of abominations he shall cause desolation, even until the consummation, and that which is determined be poured upon the desolate. The Prophets, in representing kingdoms by Beasts and Birds, put their wings stretcht out over any country for their armies sent out to invade and rule over that country. Hence a wing of abominations is an army of false Gods: for an abomination is often put in scripture for a false God; as where Chemosh is called the abomination of Moab, and Molech the abomination of Ammon. The meaning therefore is, that the people of a Prince to come shall destroy the sanctuary, and abolish the daily worship of the true God, and overspread the land with an army of false gods; and by setting up their dominion and worship, cause desolation to the Jews, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. For Christ tells us, that the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel was to be set up in the times of the Roman Empire, Matth. xxiv. 15. Thus have we in this short Prophecy, a prediction of all the main periods relating to the coming of the Messiah; the time of his birth, that of his death, that of the rejection of the Jews, the duration of the Jewish war whereby he caused the city and sanctuary to be destroyed, and the time of his second coming: and so the interpretation here given is more full and complete and adequate to the design, than if we should restrain it to his first coming only, as Interpreters usually do. We avoid also the doing violence to the language of Daniel, by taking the seven weeks and sixty two weeks for one number. Had that been Daniel's meaning, he would have said sixty and nine weeks, and not seven weeks and sixty two weeks, a way of numbring used by no nation. In our way the years are Jewish Luni-solar years, as they ought to be; and the seventy weeks of years are Jewish weeks ending with sabbatical years, which is very remarkable. For they end either with the year of the birth of Christ, two years before the vulgar account, or with the year of his death, or with the seventh year after it: all which are sabbatical years. Others either count by Lunar years, or by weeks not Judaic: and, which is worst, they ground their interpretations on erroneous Chronology, excepting the opinion of Funccius about the seventy weeks, which is the same with ours. For they place Ezra and Nehemiah in the reign of Artaxerxes Mnemon, and the building of the Temple in the reign of Darius Nothus, and date the weeks of Daniel from those two reigns. The grounds of the Chronology here followed, I will now set down as briefly as I can. The Peloponnesian war began in spring An. 1 Olymp. 87, as Diodorus, Eusebius, and all other authors agree. It began two months before Pythodorus ceased to be Archon, Thucyd. l. 2. that is, in April, two months before the end of the Olympic year. Now the years of this war are most certainly determined by the 50 years distance of its first year from the transit of Xerxes inclusively, Thucyd. l. 2. or 48 years exclusively, Eratosth. apud Clem. Alex. by the 69 years distance of its end, or 27th year, from the beginning of Alexander's reign in Greece; by the acting of the Olympic games in its 4th and 12th years, Thucyd. l. 5; and by three eclipses of the sun, and one of the moon, mentioned by Thucydides and Xenophon. Now Thucydides, an unquestionable witness, tells us, that the news of the death of Artaxerxes Longimanus was brought to Ephesus, and from thence by some Athenians to Athens, in the 7th year of this Peloponnesian war, when the winter half year was running; and therefore he died An. 4 Olymp. 88, in the end of An. J.P. 4289, suppose a month or two before midwinter; for so long the news would be in coming. Now Artaxerxes Longimanus reigned 40 years, by the consent of Diodorus, Eusebius, Jerome, Sulpitius; or 41, according to Ptol. in can. Clem. Alexand. l. 1. Strom. Chron. Alexandr. Abulpharagius, Nicephorus, including therein the reign of his successors Xerxes and Sogdian, as Abulpharagius informs us. After Artaxerxes reigned his son Xerxes two months, and Sogdian seven months; but their reign is not reckoned apart in summing up the years of the Kings, but is included in the 40 or 41 years reign of Artaxerxes: omit these nine months, and the precise reign of Artaxerxes will be thirty nine years and three months. And therefore since his reign ended in the beginning of winter An. J.P. 4289, it began between midsummer and autumn, An. J.P. 4250. The same thing I gather also thus. Cambyses began his reign in spring An. J.P. 4185, and reigned eight years, including the five months of Smerdes; and then Darius Hystaspis began in spring An. J.P. 4193, and reigned thirty six years, by the unanimous consent of all Chronologers. The reigns of these two Kings are determined by three eclipses of the moon observed at Babylon, and recorded by Ptolemy; so that it cannot be disputed. One was in the seventh year of Cambyses, An. J.P. 4191, Jul. 16, at 11 at night; another in the 20th year of Darius, An. J.P. 4212, Nov. 19, at 11h. 45' at night; a third in the 31st year of Darius, An. J.P. 4223, Apr. 25, at 11h. 30 at night. By these eclipses, and the Prophecies of Haggai and Zechary compared together, it is manifest that his years began after the 24th day of the 11th Jewish month, and before the 25th day of April, and by consequence about March. Xerxes therefore began in spring An. J.P. 4229: for Darius died in the fifth year after the battle at Marathon, as Herodotus, lib. 7, and Plutarch mention; and that battle was in October An. J.P. 4224, ten years before the battle at Salamis. Xerxes therefore began within less than a year after October An. J.P. 4228, suppose in the spring following: for he spent his first five years, and something more, in preparations for his expedition against the Greeks; and this expedition was in the time of the Olympic games, An. 1 Olymp. 75, Calliade Athenis Archonte, 28 years after the Regifuge, and Consulship of the first Consul Junius Brutus, Anno Urbis conditæ 273, Fabio & Furio Coss. The passage of Xerxes's army over the Hellespont began in the end of the fourth year of the 74th Olympiad, that is, in June An. J.P. 4234, and took up one month: and in autumn, three months after, on the full moon, the 16th day of the month Munychion, was the battle at Salamis, and a little after that an eclipse of the sun, which by the calculation fell on Octob. 2. His sixth year therefore began a little before June, suppose in spring An. J.P. 4234, and his first year consequently in spring An. J.P. 4229, as above. Now he reigned almost twenty one years, by the consent of all writers. Add the 7 months of Artabanus, and the sum will be 21 years and about four or five months, which end between midsummer and autumn An. J.P. 4250. At this time therefore began the reign of his successor Artaxerxes, as was to be proved. The same thing is also confirmed by Julius Africanus, who informs us out of former writers, that the 20th year of this Artaxerxes was the 115th year from the beginning of the reign of Cyrus in Persia, and fell in with An. 4 Olymp. 83. It began therefore with the Olympic year, soon after the summer Solstice, An. J.P. 4269. Subduct nineteen years, and his first year will begin at the same time of the year An. J.P. 4250, as above. His 7th year therefore began after midsummer An. J.P. 4256; and the Journey of Ezra to Jerusalem in the spring following fell on the beginning of An. J.P. 4257, as above. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Isaac Newton (2005). Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022, https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/16878/pg16878-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html.

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