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Protogaea
''Protogaea'' is a work by Gottfried Leibniz on geology and natural history. Unpublished in his lifetime, but made known by Johann Georg von Eckhart in 1719, it was conceived as a preface to his incomplete history of the House of Brunswick. Life ''Protogaea'' is a history of the Earth written in conjectural terms; it was composed by Leibniz in the period from 1691 to 1693. A summary in Latin was published in 1693 in the Leipzig ''Acta Eruditorum''. The text was first published in full in 1749, shortly after Benoît de Maillet's more far-reaching ideas on the origin of the Earth, circulated in manuscript, had been printed. Views ''Protogaea'' built on, and criticized, the natural philosophy of René Descartes, as expressed in his ''Principia Philosophiae''. Leibniz in the work adopted the Cartesian theory of the Earth as a sun crusted over with sunspots. He relied on the authority of Agostino Scilla writing about fossils to discredit speculations of Athanasius Kircher and Johann Jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathematics. He wrote works on philosophy, theology, ethics, politics, law, history and philology. Leibniz also made major contributions to physics and technology, and anticipated notions that surfaced much later in probability theory, biology, medicine, geology, psychology, linguistics and computer science. In addition, he contributed to the field of library science: while serving as overseer of the Wolfenbüttel library in Germany, he devised a cataloging system that would have served as a guide for many of Europe's largest libraries. Leibniz's contributions to this vast array of subjects were scattered in various learned journals, in tens of thousands of letters and in unpublished manuscripts. He wrote in several languages, primarily in Latin, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johann Georg Von Eckhart
Johann Georg von Eckhart (7 September 1664 – 9 February 1730) was a German historian and linguist. Biography Eckhart was born at Duingen in the Principality of Calenberg. After preparatory training at Schulpforta, he went to Leipzig, where at first, at the desire of his mother, he studied theology, but soon turned his attention to philology and history. On completing his course he became secretary to Heino Heinrich Graf von Flemming, Field-Marshal Count Flemming, chief minister to the Elector of Saxony; after a short time, however, he went to Hannover to find a permanent position. Owing to his extensive learning he was soon useful to Gottfried Leibniz, who in 1694 took Eckhart as assistant, and was, until death, his large-hearted patron and generous friend. Through the efforts of Leibniz, Eckhart was appointed professor of history at Helmstedt in 1706, and in 1714 councillor at Hannover. After the death of Leibniz 1716 he was made librarian and historiographer to the House of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Houghton GC6
Houghton may refer to: Places Australia * Houghton, South Australia, a town near Adelaide * Houghton Highway, the longest bridge in Australia, between Redcliffe and Brisbane in Queensland * Houghton Island (Queensland) Canada *Houghton Township, Ontario, a former township in Norfolk County, Ontario New Zealand * Houghton Bay South Africa * Houghton Estate, a suburb of Johannesburg United Kingdom *Hanging Houghton, Northamptonshire *Houghton, Cambridgeshire * Houghton, Cumbria *Houghton, East Riding of Yorkshire *Houghton, Hampshire *Houghton, Norfolk *Houghton Saint Giles, Norfolk * Houghton, Northumberland, a location in the United Kingdom * Houghton, Pembrokeshire *Houghton, West Sussex *Houghton-le-Side, Darlington *Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland *Houghton Park, Houghton-le-Spring *Houghton Bank, Darlington *Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire *Houghton on the Hill, Leicestershire *Houghton on the Hill, Norfolk *Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire *New Houghton, Derbyshire * Little Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1749 Books
Events January–March * January 3 ** Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont. ** The first issue of ''Berlingske'', Denmark's oldest continually operating newspaper, is published. * January 21 – The Teatro Filarmonico, the main opera theater in Verona, Italy, is destroyed by fire. It is rebuilt in 1754. * February – The second part of John Cleland's erotic novel ''Fanny Hill'' (''Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure'') is published in London. The author is released from debtors' prison in March. * February 28 – Henry Fielding's comic novel ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'' is published in London. Also this year, Fielding becomes magistrate at Bow Street, and first enlists the help of the Bow Street Runners, an early police force (eight men at first). * March 6 – A "corpse riot" breaks out in Glasgow after a body disappears from a churchyard in the Gorbals district. Suspicion fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linda Hall Library
The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, sitting "majestically on a urban arboretum." It is the "largest independently funded public library of science, engineering and technology in North America" and "among the largest science libraries in the world." Description Established in 1946 through the philanthropy of Linda (1859–1938) and Herbert F. Hall (1858–1941), of the Hall-Bartlett Grain Co., the library has achieved global recognition and stature. The library is open to the public with individual researchers, academic institutions and companies from Kansas City and around the world using the library’s extensive research-level collection. Though not affiliated with its neighbor, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, many students and faculty from UMKC and other local colleges and universities utilize the library each day. The library's William N. Deramus III Cosmology Theater ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicolaus Steno
Niels Steensen ( da, Niels Steensen; Latinized to ''Nicolaus Steno'' or ''Nicolaus Stenonius''; 1 January 1638 – 25 November 1686History of Geology – Steno – Aber, James S. 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2012. ) was a , a pioneer in both and who became a |
Johann Joachim Becher
Johann Joachim Becher (; 6 May 1635 – October 1682) was a German physician, alchemist, precursor of chemistry, scholar and adventurer, best known for his development of the phlogiston theory of combustion, and his advancement of Austrian cameralism. Early life and education Becher was born in Speyer during the Thirty Years War. His father was a Lutheran minister and died when Becher was a child. At the age of thirteen Becher found himself responsible not only for his own support but also for that of his mother and two brothers. He learned and practiced several small handicrafts, devoted his nights to study of the most miscellaneous description and earned a pittance by teaching. In 1654, at the age of nineteen, he published the ''Discurs von der Großmächtigen Philosophischen Universal-Artzney / von den Philosophis genannt Lapis Philosophorum Trismegistus'' (discourse about the almighty philosophical and universal medicine by the philosopher called Lapis Philosophorum Trisme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Athanasius Kircher
Athanasius Kircher (2 May 1602 – 27 November 1680) was a German Jesuit scholar and polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ... who published around 40 major works, most notably in the fields of comparative religion, geology, and medicine. Kircher has been compared to fellow Jesuit Roger Joseph Boscovich and to Leonardo da Vinci for his enormous range of interests, and has been honoured with the title "Master of a Hundred Arts".Woods, p. 108. He taught for more than 40 years at the Roman College, where he set up a wunderkammer. A resurgence of interest in Kircher has occurred within the scholarly community in recent decades. Kircher claimed to have deciphered the Egyptian hieroglyphs, hieroglyphic writing of the ancient Egyptian language, but most of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fossils
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair, petrified wood and DNA remnants. The totality of fossils is known as the ''fossil record''. Paleontology is the study of fossils: their age, method of formation, and evolutionary significance. Specimens are usually considered to be fossils if they are over 10,000 years old. The oldest fossils are around 3.48 billion years old to 4.1 billion years old. Early edition, published online before print. The observation in the 19th century that certain fossils were associated with certain rock strata led to the recognition of a geological timescale and the relative ages of different fossils. The development of radiometric dating techniques in the early 20th century allowed scientists to quantitatively measure the absolute ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agostino Scilla
Agostino Scilla (10 August 1629 – 31 May 1700) was an Italian Baroque painter, paleontologist, geologist, numismatist, and a pioneer in the study of fossils and in scientific illustration. In addition to his paintings, he published an early text on paleontology: ''La vana speculazione disingannata dal senso'' ("Vain Speculation Undeceived by Sense", 1670) which was introduced to English audiences by William Wotton of the Royal Society in 1696. He was among the first to promote a scientific understanding of fossils in contrast to fantastic Biblical and divine interpretations. Biography The son of a notary in Messina in Sicily, Scilla studied under Antonio Barbalunga in Messina and later Andrea Sacchi in Rome and became a painter. In Messina, he painted frescoes in the churches of San Domenico and of the Nunziata de' Teatini. Among his canvases are a depiction of ''Death of San Ilarione'' painted for the church of Sant'Ursula. His frescos in the Cathedral of Syracuse date f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Principia Philosophiae
''Principles of Philosophy'' ( la, Principia Philosophiae) is a book by René Descartes. In essence, it is a synthesis of the ''Discourse on Method'' and ''Meditations on First Philosophy''.Guy Durandin, ''Les Principes de la Philosophie. Introduction et notes'', Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, Paris, 1970. It was written in Latin, published in 1644 and dedicated to Elisabeth of Bohemia, with whom Descartes had a long-standing friendship. A French version (''Les Principes de la Philosophie'') followed in 1647. The book sets forth the principles of nature—the Laws of Physics—as Descartes viewed them. Most notably, it set forth the principle that in the absence of external forces, an object's motion will be uniform and in a straight line. Newton borrowed this principle from Descartes and included it in his own '' Principia''; to this day, it is still generally referred to as Newton's First Law of Motion. The book was primarily intended to replace the Aristotelian curriculum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunspot
Sunspots are phenomena on the Sun's photosphere that appear as temporary spots that are darker than the surrounding areas. They are regions of reduced surface temperature caused by concentrations of magnetic flux that inhibit convection. Sunspots appear within active regions, usually in pairs of opposite magnetic polarity. Their number varies according to the approximately 11-year solar cycle. Individual sunspots or groups of sunspots may last anywhere from a few days to a few months, but eventually decay. Sunspots expand and contract as they move across the surface of the Sun, with diameters ranging from to . Larger sunspots can be visible from Earth without the aid of a telescope. They may travel at relative speeds, or proper motions, of a few hundred meters per second when they first emerge. Indicating intense magnetic activity, sunspots accompany other active region phenomena such as coronal loops, prominences, and reconnection events. Most solar flares and coronal mas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_2007-04-30_T001456.gif "Click for more on -> Sunspot")