A remarkable use of the number 3168 occurs in Plato's account in Book V of Laws of the mystical dimensions of the perfect city. Throughout his work Plato makes guarded reference to a secret canon of numbers that applies universally to every aspect of human life and activity, including government, astronomy accoustics, kinetics, plane and solid geometry and divination. Linear measurements, areas and volumes are obviously incommensurable, but Plato declares that there are certain numbers that link these with each other and with all phenomena capable of being measured. As an example of these numbers, the study of which Plato recommends as the most sanctifying of all pursuits, he gives 5040. This is the ideal number of citizens in the state and serves other purposes in con-"  /


Who would have thought to have seen the Alizzed, blowing zeros through a bubble pipe


Page 79  /  

"nection with the framing of laws and standards. the reason why it is most suitable for all matters of division is that for its size it has the greatest number of divisors, 60 in all, including the entire decad, the numbers 1- 10. Another property of the number 5040 is that it is the radius of a circle with circumference 31,680. Further examina-tion of the numerical foundations of Plato's state shows that the scheme to which he refers is the ancient plan of the cosmic temple.
       The lawgivers in Plato's state are reminded that the perfect human society would be one in which all possessions, wives, children, land and chattels were held in common, where all the citizens were of one mind and acted together so harmoniously that it were as if eyes, ears and hands were also common property. To keep this ideal alive is the function of the prophet. Human nature and conditioning, however, demand a more practical alternative, 'very near to the first in immortality and second to it in merit'. This is provided in Laws V.
       Plato's state is arranged in a manner that can scarcely be under-stood literally, and is obviously intended like the New Jerusalem, as a geometer's allegory. The land is all divided into twelve parts, each dedicated to one of the twelve gods and populated by one of the twelve tribes of the 5040 households. The city is similarly divided forming a microcosm of the state as a whole. In the centre of the city is the acropolis and
            
           'from this centre he must divide up the city itself and the whole country into twelve parts. The twelve
parts must be equalised by making those of good land small and those of inferior land greater. He must
mark off 5040 allotments, and each of these he must cut in two and join two pieces to form the
allotments, so that each contains a near piece and a distant piece - joining the piece next to the city with
the piece furthest off the second nearest with the second furthest, and so on with the rest.'


The only way in which this division can be represented is by a circle of radius 5040, a hundred times larger than that of Stone-henge measured in feet; the perimeter of this circle is 31,680. In Fig.24 the radius of the circle should be divided equally into 5040 parts to produce 5040 concentric circles. These are bisected into 10,080 semi- circles by the diameter and positioned out in Plato's manner into 5040 double allotments, each of equal area.
      In this scheme 31,680 is not only the circumference of the circular state, but also the area of each of its 2520 pairs of rings, proving Plato's assertion that linear and area measurements can be made  

/ Page 80   /  

Figure 24" omitted
Plato's city divided into 5040 rings, Perimeter =31,680, Areas: A+ a = B + b = C + c = 31,680.


/ commensurable by number. The entire circle is divided into two halves, each containing 39,916,800 square units of land. These numbers, which are inherent in the New Jerusalem scheme, have the following significance:

 

 

 

    31,680 is divisible by all the numbers 1- 12 with the exception of 7
     5040 = 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7  
     39,916,800 = 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 x 8 x 9 x 10 x 11


Alizzed, wondered why things didn't add up, then did.
     31,680                                                                       3 + 1+ 6 + 8 = 18   1 + 8  =  9
     5040                                                                                                         5 + 4  =  9
     39,916,800                                                     3 + 9 + 9 + 1 + 6 + 8 = 36   3 = 6 =  9
And so on, writ the scribe.


Page 80 continued  

5040, the radius of the circular city, is the product of the numbers 1-7; 7920, the side of the square city, is the product of the numbers 1-7; 7920, the side of the square city, is the product of numbers 8 - 11. In each case the perimeter of the city is 31,680. In Plato's Republic is the famous, cryptic reference to the 'marriage number', which should be consulted by the guardians of the state in all matters relating to the seasonal union of male and female. There appear to be two numbers involved, adding up to a third, but the riddle is so obscure that no firm solution has been reached despite the vast literature on the subject. For various reasons the number 12,960,000 or 3600 is most commonly proposed, and this would seem appro-priate, for 12,960 = 5040 + 7920. 12,960 therefore represents the union of square and circle, symbol of the sacred marriage, and the gematria is also appropriate, for 1296 =…"  "…Mary mother of Jesus.
In Laws VIII 848D the twelve radial divisions of the circular state are each inscribed with a village, a market place and a temple to  

/ Page 81  8 + 1 = 9     /

one of the twelve gods, and Plato insists that all existing shrines of local and aboriginal deities be respected, following the ancient custom. Now the twelve gods are…" "…the name carved on the stone pillar at the centre of Athens, from which all distances were measured and where the sacred paths converged. The number of their name is 1008, the diameter of the circle with circumference 3168, and within one unit 3168 is the number of…" "temple of the twelve gods. Three versions of the Holy city are placed together below. "


Here the Alizzed noted the absence of the Greek words contained in Brother John's original text


Page 81 continues

"Plato's twelve gods were arranged by astrologers into six pairs of opposites, and these
correspond to the twelve gods of Stonhenge whose days are discovered in the astronomical features of the temple, indicated as Professor Hawkins shows, by six two-way stone alignments to the eight extreme positions of the moon and four of the sun.


Figure 25 omitted


The number 3168 in English sacred geography


A mystery too deep for present inquiry concerns the ancient geographical arrangement of temples in relation to each other. That there was some esoteric scheme linking the various centres has always been an item of occult tradition, and the idea is supported by the discovery of identical figures of numerology in all cosmic temples; but the first modern indication of a planned location of ancient sites was provided by Alfred Watkins in his principal work, The Old Straight Track, first published in 1925, and recently repub-lished. Scarcely anything is now known of the aims and methods of  

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this forgotten science, whose monuments are the relics of a neolithic world civilisation. However, the invariable inclusion of the number 3168 as the perimeter of the cosmic temple suggests that, following the ancient practice of relating microcosm to macrocosm, this num-ber may have been used in the greater measurements of sacred geography. "

Page 23

"Searches for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) are being spearheaded at the SETI Institute in Mountain View California. The efforts have concentrated on searches for radio transmissions that could be artificial in origin, and have used various large telescopes around the world…" "But radio is not the only conceivable channel: narrow-beamed lasers could span interstellar distances with a modest power consumption. We already have the technology, if we so wish, to proclaim our presence many light-years away by either of these methods; indeed, the combined effects of all radio transmitters, radars and so forth would in any case reveal us to any aliens with sensitive radio telescopes. We know so little about the origin and potentialities of life that it is hard to assess what method for detecting it is best. So it is sensible to use every available technique and be alert to all possibilities. But we should be mindful of 'observational selection': even if we do discover something, we can't infer that it is 'typical' because our instruments and techniques restrict us to detecting a biased and incomplete selection of what may actually be out there.
     There may be no intelligent life elsewhere…" "… There are heavy odds against success, but systematic scans for artificial signals are a worthwhile gamble because of the philosophical import of any detection.  

/ Page 24  2 + 4 = 6   /  

A manifestly artificial signal - even if it were as boring as lists of prime numbers, or the digits of  'pi'- would imply that 'intelli-gence' wasn't unique to the Earth and had evolved elsewhere…"
     Any remote beings who could communicate with us would have some concepts of mathematics and logic that paralleled our own. And they would also share a knowledge of the basic particles and forces that govern our universe. Their habitat may be very different (and the biosphere even more different) from ours here on Earth; but they, and their planet would be made of atoms just like those on Earth. For them, as for us, the most important particles would be protons and electrons: one electron orbiting a proton makes a hydrogen atom, and electric currents and radio transmitters involve streams of electrons. A proton is 1,836 times heavier than an electron, and the number 1,836 would have the same connotations to any 'intelligence' able and motivated to transmit radio signals. All the basic forces and natural laws would be the same. Indeed this uniformity - without which our universe would be a far more baffling place - seems to extend to the remotest galaxies that astronomers can study. (Later chapters in this book will, however, speculate about other' universes', forever beyond range of our telescopes, where different laws may prevail.)
       Clearly, alien beings wouldn't use metres, kilograms or seconds. But we could exchange information about the ratios of two masses (such as the ratio of proton and electron masses) or of two lengths, which are 'pure numbers' that don't depend on what units are used: the statement that one rod is ten times as long as another is true (or false) whether we measure   /

Might use Imperial though, thought the scribe, straight off n' cuff.            

Page 25   /

  lengths in feet or metres or some alien units…"    
       Some 'intelligences' could exist with no intellectual affinity to us whatsoever. But any beings who transmitted a signal to us must have achieved some mastery over their physical surroundings. If they had any powers of reflection, they would surely share our curiosity about the cosmic 'genesis event' from which we've all emerged. They would be likely to be interested in how our universe is structured into stars and galaxies, what it contains, how it is expanding, and its eventual destiny. These things would be part of the common culture that we would share with any aliens. They would note as we do, that a few key numbers are crucial to our shared cosmic environment.
     Six of these numbers are the theme of the present book. They determine key features of our universe: how it expands; whether planets, stars and galaxies can form; and whether there can be a 'chemistry' propitious for evolution. Moreover the nature of our universe is remarkably sensitive to these numbers. If you imagine setting up a universe by adjusting six dials, then the tuning must be precise to yield a universe that could harbour life. Is this providence? Is it coincidence? Are these numbers the outcome of a 'theory of everything' that uniquely fixes them? None of these interpre- tations seem compelling. Instead, I believe that the apparent 'tuning' intimates something even more remarkable: that our observable universe - all we can see out to the limits of our telescopes - is just one part of an ensemble, among which there is even a diversity of physical laws. This is pure speculation, but it is compatible with the best theories we have.  

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We know that there are planets orbiting other stars, just as the Earth orbits our own star, the Sun. We may wonder what habitats they offer. Is their gravity too weak to retain an atmosphere? Are they too hot, too cold, or too dry to harbour life? Probably only a few offer an enviroment conducive for life. So, on a much grander scale, there may be innumerable other universes that we cannot observe because light from them can never reach us. Would they be propotios for the kind of evolution that has happened on at least one  planet around at least one star in our 'home ' universe? In most of them, the six numbers could be different: only a few universes would then be 'well tuned' for life. We should not be surprised that in our universe, the numbers seem providentially tuned, any more than we should be surprised to find ourselves on a rather special planet whose gravity can retain an atmosphere, where the temperature allows water to exist, and that is orbiting a stable long-lived star.


The scribe had often wondered what went on behind closed lids

 

Just six
Numbers
Martin Rees 1999

Page 24

" A proton is 1,836 times heavier than an electron, and the number 1,836 would have the same connotations to any 'intelligence' able and motivated to transmit radio signals. All the basic forces and natural laws would be the same. Indeed this uniformity - without which our universe would be a far more baffling place - seems to extend to the remotest galaxies that astronomers can study."

"A proton is 1,836 times heavier than an electron"
" the number 1,836 would have the same connotations."

Page 275

  "In the gigantic conceptions of Einstein, the velocity of light - 186,300 miles per second - ..."

Page 192

        "light velocity: electromagnetic waves of light travel through space at a speed of 186.326 miles per second"
Page 227

"neutron"a particle in the nu-  

/ Page 228    /  

cleus of an atom, having about the same mass as a proton (10,086 atomic mass units