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Enseñanza De Las Ciencias De La Tierra, 2003 (10.3) 243 Precisiones Sobre La Traducción Del Pródromo Que Aquí Se Presenta

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Enseñanza De Las Ciencias De La Tierra, 2003 (10.3) 243 Precisiones Sobre La Traducción Del Pródromo Que Aquí Se Presenta Enseñanza de las Ciencias de la Tierra, 2003 (10.3) 243 Precisiones sobre la traducción del Pródromo que aquí se presenta La presente traducción del Pródromo de Una dificultad que se ha intentado supe- Steno ha sido realizada a partir de la edición rar es la de la terminología. Nicolás Steno latina reproducida por Scherz (1969), aunque escribe en el siglo XVII cuando apenas hay ha sido necesario acudir al texto de la traduc- unos conceptos biológicos y geológicos es- ción inglesa para subsanar algunas erratas que tablecidos. Por ello, siempre que ha sido po- constaban en el texto latino de referencia. Es- sible se ha preferido conservar las formula- te texto de la edición latina a la que nos referi- ciones conceptuales arcaicas de Steno que mos fue asimismo recogida de la primera edi- dan al texto una belleza especial, aunque en ción de Nicolai Stenonis. De Solido intra So- algunas ocasiones hemos preferido introdu- lidum Naturaliter Contento Dissertationis cir neologismos para clarificar mejor su Prodromus (Florencia, 1669)* . pensamiento. Steno no subdivió las partes de su trabajo Del mismo modo, hemos procurado huir y sólo incluye a pie de página unas breves de una traducción excesivamente “literal” indicaciones. Por ello, y dado el carácter que haría farragosa y más difícil la lectura. práctico de este trabajo, hemos preferido in- Los anacolutos y las elipsis son frecuentes y cluir epígrafes orientativos que, al estar entre hacen difícil en ocasiones la transmisión de corchetes, indican que no pertenecen al texto su pensamiento. Por ello, en algunos momen- original. Por nuestra parte, y para facilitar su tos se ha modificado la puntuación y la sinta- lectura, hemos procedido a insertar algunos xis y se ha preferido añadir palabras que el epígrafes (que se incluyen entre corchetes, autor da por supuestas y que, desde nuestro [ ]). De igual modo se ha introducido otra propio modo de pensar, hacen mucho más innovación que se ha revelado muy útil para comprensible el texto. la practica: se ha hecho una numeración de Debe constar aquí la gratitud más en- los párrafos del texto (también señalados en- trañable a los profesores latinistas que han tre corchetes [ ]) que permiten encontrar un colaborado en esta traducción. Al no ser texto concreto, citarlo. Esto facilita induda- personas procedentes del mundo de los ge- blemente su lectura. ólogos, la dificultad añadida a la traduc- Hemos añadido también algunas notas a ción ha sido mucho mayor. Pero el talante pie de página que, sin tener la pretensión de con que han dedicado muchas horas al tra- convertir este trabajo en una edición crítica, bajo merecen que aquí se citen sus nom- aclaran conceptos y referencias para el lector bres: Teresa Berdugo Villena, Javier Pei- de habla española. nado Peinado y Antonio Pascual Lupiáñez. Hemos de reconocer, con orgullo, que es- También deseo manifestar mi gratitud a ta es la primera traducción completa al caste- los profesores Emilio Pedrinaci (Presiden- llano que se hace de la obra de Steno y pare- te de la Asociación Española para la Ense- ce extraño que uno de los libros más impor- ñanza de las Ciencias de la Tierra, AE- tantes, pese a su brevedad, de la historia de la PECT), a Francisco Anguita (Departamen- Geología, no hubiera sido aún editado en to de Petrología y Geoquímica de la Uni- nuestra lengua (al menos por lo que conoce- versidad Complutense), a Cándido Manuel mos). Somos conscientes de que la traduc- García Cruz (Comisión Internacional de ción no es perfecta. No es fácil traducir a un Historia de la Geología, INHIGEO, y Pro- autor que domina muy bien el latín clásico y fesor de Secundaria, La Laguna, Tenerife) que escribe su obra con los recursos retóricos y a Josep Verd Crespí (Profesor de Secun- propios de los estudiosos del siglo XVII así daria, Mallorca). Ellos han aportado valio- como con una concisión y una precisión ter- sas sugerencias para la mejora de la tra- minológica sorprendente. ducción y de esta presentación. LEANDRO SEQUEIROS (*) SCHERZ, G. (1969). opus cit., 220. 244 Enseñanza de las Ciencias de la Tierra, 2003 (10.3) EL PRÓDROMO NICOLAUS STENO De Solido intra Solidum naturaliter contento Dissertationis Prodromus NIELS STENSEN (NICOLAS STENO) Pródromo a una Disertación sobre un cuerpo rocoso sólido contenido de forma natural dentro de otro cuerpo rocoso sólido dedicado a Fernando II, el Serenísimo Gran Duque de Toscana Florencia, 1669, editado en la imprenta bajo el signo de la Estrella Con permiso de los Superiores1 Traducción a cargo de Leandro Sequeiros* EXORDIO Serenísimo Gran Duque: [1] Suele acontecer con frecuencia cuando los viajeros se aproximan a una ciudad edificada en lo alto de un monte, que al atravesar unas regiones que les son desconocidas y que tienen altas montañas y sierras, al mismo tiempo que ven la ciudad y confiadamente piensan que ya está muy próxima, sin embargo se van desanimando y caen en el cansancio al ver que los múltiples rodeos de los senderos les impiden seguir el camino en línea recta. Estos viajeros contemplan solamente la montaña próxima y cercana, la cual oculta tanto las cum- bres de los otros montes, como la profundidad de los valles o la planicie de los campos, por lo que dis- cuten entre sí sobre las posibilidades de llegar ya que son frágiles sus conjeturas sobre la distancia que queda hasta la meta. [2] No es otra la situación de aquéllos que buscan el conocimiento práctico verdadero de las cosas guiados por lo que se experimenta2. Pues dado que se les ofrecen al conocimiento ciertos datos verda- deros, están convencidos al principio de que todas sus preguntas van a ser respondidas enseguida. És- tos nunca tienen en cuenta el tiempo que se requiere para resolver la intrincada cadena de dificultades que, gradualmente y como brotando de la oscuridad, frenan siempre con nuevas objeciones a los que quieren llegar rápidamente al final de su trabajo. (1) El presente texto traducido del latín se basa en la edición del De solido intra solidum naturaliter contento Dissertationis Prodro- mus, en: SCHERZ, G., edit. (1969). Steno. Geological papers. Bibliotheca Universitatis Hauniense, Acta Historica Scienciarum Na- turalium et Medicinalium, Copenhague, volumen 20, páginas 133-217. (2) Steno refleja aquí su aceptación del método inductivo experimental de Francis Bacon [ver: SEQUEIROS, L. (1999) La epistemo- logía oculta de los paleontólogos. Los fósiles “bajo el crisol de Bacon”. Actas XX Jornadas de Paleontología. Madrid, octubre 1999.Temas Geológico- Mineros ITGE, 26, 36-43]. Respecto a sus preferencias epistemológicas, se ha conservado de Steno un ma- nuscrito autógrafo (1659-2660) de cuando era estudiante en Copenhague y tenía 21 años. El manuscrito lleva el título de Chaos, y en él figuran alusiones laudatorias a Bacon y a Descartes y que piensa actuar en su vida de acuerdo al método de Descartes [ELLEN- BERGER, F. (1988). Histoire de la Géologie. Tome I. Des Anciens à la première moitié du XVIIe siécle. Tecnique et Documertation, Lavoisier, Paris. (Edición castellana: (1989) Historia de la Geología. Volumen 1. De la Antigüedad al siglo XVII. MEC- Editorial Labor, Barcelona, 282 pág (sobre todo, pág. 203)]. (*) Área de Filosofía. Facultad de Teología. Campus de la Cartuja. Universidad de Granada. Apdo. 2002. 18080 Granada E-mail: [email protected] Enseñanza de las Ciencias de la Tierra, 2003. (10.3) 245-282 245 I.S.S.N.: 1132-9157 Cualquier trabajo que se acomete muestra al principio que existen ciertas dificultades comunes y generalmente conocidas; tras éstas siguen otras tareas, como son las de eliminar las explicaciones fal- sas, aclarar las que son oscuras, traer a colación hechos hasta ahora desconocidos que difícilmente ha- brían sido detectados por nadie antes de que hubieran salido a la luz al hilo de su investigación. [3] No sin razón usó Demócrito el ejemplo del pozo en que el trabajo que resta por hacer y el tiem- po que se necesita para agotarlo apenas puede ser medido a no ser que sea sacando agua ya que el nú- mero de las venas de agua está oculto y siempre hay duda de la abundancia del caudal de la materia que fluye. Así pues, no os admiréis, Serenísimo Príncipe, de que yo hubiera dicho antes que la inves- tigación sobre los dientes del Canis Carchariae3 se iba a prolongar hasta quedar terminada a lo largo de todo el año pasado y lo que queda de éste. Visitadas una y otra vez las tierras donde salen a la luz las conchas y otros tipos de restos marinos, hice notar que estos suelos fueron sedimentos originados por un mar de aguas turbias, y que era posi- ble calcular hace cuánto tiempo estuvo en cada lugar el mar de aguas turbias; en un primer momento, me pareció que todo lo que allí interpretaba iba a ser una investigación que llevaría breve tiempo. Pe- ro en ello me engañaba, e incluso se engañaban otros que sacaban conclusiones prematuras. [4] De aquí que, cuando me pongo a investigar más atentamente cada uno de los lugares y los cuer- pos [rocosos], me asaltan todos los días dudas, que están indisolublemente entrelazadas unas con otras. Por ello, frecuentemente me he visto a mí mismo casi encerrado en una cárcel cuando más cre- ía estar cerca de la meta. Permítaseme decir que estas dudas se me asemejaban a las cabezas de la Hi- dra de la laguna de Lerna4, que cuando se le cortaba una de sus cabezas, nacían otras muchas; por to- das estas cosas, me he encontrado muchas veces perdido en un laberinto en el que, cuanto más le pa- rece a uno que llega a la salida, tanto más se experimenta que se pierde en más recovecos.
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