Gaining Favor with a Friend

Identify your friend&rsquo;s interests and choose gifts that align with them. Suitable items include mathematics books, optical instruments, microscopes, sundials, various mirrors, and other curiosities, as well as treatises on the secrets of nature, such as those written by Mizauld . Speak with him often, consult him, and ask for his advice, then follow it. But never lay yourself so bare that if…