- Reinhardt , O. and Oldroyd , D.R. 1982 . Kant's Thoughts on the Ageing of the Earth . Annals of Science , 39 : 349 – 369 . ‘Kant's theory of Earthquakes and Volcanic Action’, Annals of Science, 40 (1983), 247–72.
- Kant , I. 1755 . Allgemeine Naturgeschichte und Theorie des Himmels oder Versuch von der Verfassung und den Mechanischen Ursprung des ganzen Weltgebäudes nach Newtonischen Grundsätzen Abgehandelt Königsberg Kant's Cosmology as in his Essay on the Retardation of the Earth and his Natural History and Theory of the Heavens…, edited and translated by W. Hastie (Glasgow, 1900; Ann Arbor, 1969).
- Kant , I. 1802 . Immanuel Kants Physische Geographie, Herausgegeben…von F. T. Rink Königsberg 2 vols Where we have made reference to Kant's Physische Geographie, we have used Kants gesammelte Schriften, Herausgegeben von der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 28 vols (Berlin and Leipzig, 1902- ), IX (1923), 151–436. (The volume most recently published appeared in 1979.)
- Adickes , E. 1911 . Untersuchungen zu Kants Physischer Geographie Tübingen See also E. Adickes, Kants Ansichten über Geschichte und Bau der Erde (Tübingen, 1911). For an English summary of Adickes' conclusions, see R. Hartshorne, The Nature of Geography: A Critical Survey of Current Thought in the Light of the Past (Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1939), 38–9.
- Compare below, p. 221. In his paper on earthquakes of 1756, Kant had asserted, in opposition to a certain Dr Poll, that the interior of the Earth would contain iron, rather than iron ore (i.e. reduced iron rather than iron calx). Kant's explanation in 1756 as to how the heat of the interior of the Earth might maintain the iron in a reduced condition, suitable for combination with sulphur, was not very convincing. See Reinhardt Oldroyd Kant's Thoughts on the Ageing of the Earth Annals of Science 1983 39 272 272
- Kant . 1802 . Immanuel Kants Physische Geographie, Herausgegeben…von F. T. Rink 267 – 267 . Königsberg 2 vols
- See Rudwick M.J.S. Lyell on Etna, and the Antiquity of the Earth Toward a History of Geology Schneer C.J. Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London 1969 288 304
- For discussion of Buffon's ideas on the age of the Earth, see Haber F.C. The Age of the World: Moses to Darwin Baltimore 1959 115 136
- In his paper of 1754, Kant implied a Biblical age for the Earth. See Reinhardt Oldroyd Kant's Thoughts on the Ageing of the Earth Annals of Science 1982 39 363 363
- These observations and theoretical speculations have previously been discussed in Home R.W. The Origin of the Lunar Craters: an Eighteenth-Century View Journal for the History of Astronomy 1972 3 1 10
- For the foregoing details, see Beccaria Intorno ad alcuna particella, che riluca nel disco della Luna Interamente Oscurata: Opinione di G. B. Beccaria Delle S. P. Umilmente Esposta a Sua Altezza Serenissima La Signora Pincipessa Giuseppino di Savoja-Carignano Opuscoli Scelti sulle Scienze e sulle Arti 1780 3 166 173 and Aepinus (footnote 25).
- Ulloa's claimed observation was published in several places. We have used Ulloa A. XL. Observations on the Total (with Duration) and Annular Eclipse of the Sun, taken on the 24th Day of June, 1778, on board the Espagen, being the Admiral's Ship of the Fleet of New Spain, in the Passage from the Azores towards Cape St. Vincent's. By Don Antonio Ulloa, F.R.S. Commander of the said Squadron; communicated by Samuel Horsley, LL.D., F.R.S. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 1779 69 105 119 (Ulloa, 1716–95, is remembered for his survey work in Peru.)
- Beccaria , G.B. 1780 . Intorno ad alcuna particella, che riluca nel disco della Luna Interamente Oscurata: Opinione di G. B. Beccaria Delle S. P. Umilmente Esposta a Sua Altezza Serenissima La Signora Pincipessa Giuseppino di Savoja-Carignano . Opuscoli Scelti sulle Scienze e sulle Arti , 3 : 166 – 173 .
- Lichtenberg , G.C. 1779 . Ein Paar Neuigkeiten vom Monde . Göttinger Taschen-Calender , : 25 – 30 . and ‘Einige Betrachtungen über die Mondoflecken bey Gelegenheit Vorstehender Abhandlung. Von G.C.L.’, Göttingisches Magazin der Wissenshaften und Litteratur, 2 (1781), 26–31.
- Aepinus , F.U.T. 1781 . Ueber den Bau der Mondfläche, und den Vulcanischen Ursprung ihrer Ungleichheiten . Schriften der Berlinischen Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde , 2 : 11 – 40 .
- Hamilton first published his observations on the volcanoes of Italy in letters to the Royal Society (1766, 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770). See Observations on Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna, and other Volcanos: in a Series of Letters, Addressed to the Royal Society, From the Honourable Sir W. Hamilton… A New Edition London 1774 His later, more sumptuous publication was: Campi Phlegraei: Observations on the Volcanoes of the Two Sicilies … to which a … Map is Annexed, with 54 Plates Illuminated, from Drawings taken and colour'd after Nature, under the Inspection of the Author by the Editor … P. Fabris. Observations sur les Volcans des Deux Siciles, 2 vols (Naples, 1776); supplement, 1779. For the connection between Hamilton's work and that of Aepinus, see Home (footnote 11), 3–6.
- Aepinus . 1781 . Ueber den Bau der Mondfläche, und den Vulcanischen Ursprung ihrer Ungleichheiten . Schriften der Berlinischen Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde , 2 : 15 – 15 .
- Aepinus . 1781 . Ueber den Bau der Mondfläche, und den Vulcanischen Ursprung ihrer Ungleichheiten . Schriften der Berlinischen Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde , 2 : 38 – 38 .
- Aepinus . 1781 . Ueber den Bau der Mondfläche, und den Vulcanischen Ursprung ihrer Ungleichheiten . Schriften der Berlinischen Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde , 2 : 38 – 38 .
- Aepinus . 1781 . Ueber den Bau der Mondfläche, und den Vulcanischen Ursprung ihrer Ungleicheiten . Schriften der Berlinischen Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde , 2 : 39 – 39 .
- Aepinus . 1781 . Ueber den Bau der Mondfläche, und den Vulcanischen Ursprung ihrer Ungleichheiten . Schriften der Berlinischen Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde , 2 : 39 – 39 .
- On Magellan and his links with Aepinus, see Home R.W. Scientific Links between Britain and Russia in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century Great Britain and Russia in the Eighteenth Century: Contacts and Comparisons Cross A.G. Newtonville, Massachusetts 1979 212 224
- Aepinus , F.U.T. 1784 . Lettre de S. E. Mr. le Conseiller d'Etat actuel & Chevalier Aepinus, à M. Le Conseiller de Collèges Pallas: sur les Volcans de la Lune. Lu à l'Acadamie 21 Juin 1784 . Nova Acta Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae , 2 : 50 – 52 .
- Aepinus , F.U.T. 1784 . Letter from Mr. Aepinus, Counsellor of State in Russia, to Mr. Pallas, Counsellor of the imperial Collegea at St. Petersburg, in Consequence of a Communication made to the Imperial Academy of Sciences by Mr. De Magellan, Member of the same Academy, Concerning a Volcano discovered in the Moon, on the 4th of May, 1783, by Mr. Herschel, F.R.S. . The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle , 54 : 563 – 564 .
- Aepinus , F.U.T. 1784 . Letter from Mr. Aepinus, Counsellor of State in Russia, to Mr. Pallas, Counsellor of the Imperial Collegea at St. Petersburg, in Consequence of a Communication made to the Imperial Academy of Sciences by Mr. De Magellan, Member of the same Academy, Concerning a Volcano discovered in the Moon, on the 4th of May, 1783, by Mr. Herschel, F.R.S. . The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle , 54 : 563 – 564 . 564 (in Magellan's footnote). For Herschel's letter to Magellan on the subject, see The Scientific Papers of Sir William Herschel, 2 vols (London, 1912), I, xxxviii.
- Herschel , W. 1787 . XX. An Account of Three Volcanoes in the Moon. By William Herschel, LL.D. F.R.S.; Communicated by Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. P.R.S. . Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London , 77 : 229 – 232 . In this paper, Herschel made brief reference to his claimed observations of 1783. He further pressed his ideas in his correspondence. See The Herschel Chronicle: The Life-Story of William Herschel and his Sister Caroline Herschel, edited by C. A. Lubbock (Cambridge, 1933), 217–8.
- Herschel , W. 1780 . Astronomical Observations Relating to the Mountains of the Moon. By Mr. Herschel of Bath. Communicated by Dr. Watson, Jun. of Bath, F.R.S. . Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London , 70 : 507 – 526 .
- See Middlehurst B.M. Burley J.M. Chronological Listing of Lunar Events Goddard Space Flight Center 1966
- Lubbock , C.A. , ed. 1933 . The Herschel Chronicle: The Life-Story of William Herschel and his Sister Caroline Herschel 217 – 218 . Cambridge
- See Austin R.H. Uranus Observed The British Journal for the History of Science 1967 3 275 284
- Modern sociologists of science would, no doubt, see all this as an illustration of Merton's ideas on multiple discoveries in science. (See Merton R.K. The Sociology of Science—Theoretical and Empirical Investigations Chicago and London 1973 343 370 But Aepinus saw the matter in a much simpler light, writing: ‘The opinion respecting the volcanic origin of the lunar inequalities might be compared to a fruit perfectly ripe, that could not but fall into the hands of him who might accidently shake the tree’ (footnote 25, 564).
- Hooke , R. 1665 . Micrographia: Or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses. With Observations and Inquires Thereupon 242 – 246 . London Hooke tended to favour the ‘volcanic’ hypothesis, and drew analogies between circumstances on the Earth and the Moon.
- Kant , I. 1785 . Über die Vulcane im Monde . Berlinische Monatsschrift , 5 : 199 – 213 . The edition we have used is Kants gesammelte Schriften, VIII (1923), 69–76.
- Kant . 1755 . Allgemeine Naturgeschichte und Theorie des Himmels oder Versuch von der Verfassung und den Mechanischen Ursprung des ganzen Weltgebäudes nach Newtonischen Grundsätzen Abgehandelt Königsberg
- Crawford , A. 1779 . Experiments and Observations on Animal Heat, and the Inflamation of Combustible Bodies. Being an Attempt to Resolve these Phenomena into a General Law of Nature London (Or Kant may have utilized Magellan's account of Crawford's theories, to be found in J. H. de Magellan, Essai sur la Nouvelle Théorie du Feu Elémentaire, et de la Chaleur des Corps (London, 1780).)
- It may be remarked that in his lectures on physical geography, Kant likened the Elbe to the trunk of a tree fed by many roots. He also mentioned that if the river were dammed it would cause Bohemia to become a large lake. Kant Immanuel Kants Physische Geographie, Herausgegeben…von F. T. Rink Königsberg 1802 240 240 2 vols
- See Wegmann E. Changing Ideas about Moving Shorelines Toward a History of Geology Schneer C.J. Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London 1969 386 444
- See Frängsmyr T. Linnaeus as geologist Linnaeus: The Man and his Work Frängsmyr T. Berkeley, London 1983 110 155
- Kant . 1802 . Immanuel Kants Physische Geographie, Herausgegeben…von F. T. Rink 205 – 206 . Königsberg 2 vols
- Unlike the theory presented in 1785, the argument about the formation of the Earth's surface, given in the Physical Geography, was not based to any significant extent on analogies made with the Moon. But Kant does say in his lectures that the surfaces of the Earth and the Moon are generally similar. See Kant Immanuel Kants Physische Geographie, Herausgegeben…von F. T. Rink Königsberg 1802 181 182 2 vols
- Kant . 1802 . Immanuel Kants Physische Geographie, Herausgegeben…von F. T. Rink 186 – 186 . Königsberg 2 vols Kant also denies that the oceans acquire their salinity by the transport of saline matter from the land by rivers. Rather, he thinks terrestrial salt deposits derive from the ocean—or are residues left behind as the waters ran down into the ocean basins in the Earth's early days.
- Kant . 1802 . Immanuel Kants Physische Geographie, Herausgegeben…von F. T. Rink 201 – 202 . Königsberg 2 vols
- In one of his supplements to the Physical Geography, Kant stated that the interior of the Earth might be somewhat similar to the conditions of the original chaos. See Kants gesammelte Schriften 1925 XIV 577 578
- See Reinhardt Oldroyd Kant's Thoughts on the Ageing of the Earth Annals of Science 1983 39 259 260 and passim. (But in 1756, Kant was more inclined to attribute the Earth's surface topography to collapse structures, than to elevations due to escaping subterranean vapours.)
- See Reinhardt Oldroyd Kant's Thoughts on the Ageing of the Earth Annals of Science 1982 39 360 361 (Again, in 1754, collapse was the order of the day, rather than elevation. But in that early paper, Kant did envisage vapours escaping from the Earth's interior to leave cavities within.)
- Kant . 1755 . Allgemeine Naturgeschichte und Theorie des Himmels oder Versuch von der Verfassung und den Mechanischen Ursprung des ganzen Weltgebäudes nach Newtonischen Grundsätzen Abgehandelt Königsberg Some further information may be gleaned from an undated manuscript fragment that was unpublished in Kant's lifetime, but which was preserved and is to be found in his Complete Works: ‘Geschichte der Erde in den Ältesten Zeiten’ (Kants gesammelte Schriften, XIV (1925), 572–4). This manuscript proposes that after forming out of the chaos, the Earth solidified at its surface, with layers forming by matter settling out according to its densities. Matter continued to settle out inside the Earth, forming cavities, while water and air formed layers on the surface. (This would provide an original universal ocean.) The collapses of portions of the crust occurred forming some land above the level of the sea; and plants and animals populated this land. Then, the subterranean vaults becoming enlarged (due to further internal settling of matter?), further collapses of the Earth's crust occurred, and the corresponding disturbances consitituted the ‘Great Flood’. The collapses caused a general lowering of the sea bed, so that after this great catastrophe there was no longer a universal ocean. Supposedly, all this explained the presence of fossils in elevated regions. Kant also thought that the collapse process allowed the escape of certain noxious matter into the atmosphere, making it less salubrious than in the days before the Flood. This would account for the reputed different physical natures of man before and after the Flood. The theory bears some relationship to the early theory of Kant (1754), and the later paper (1785) that we are considering here, but appears to have more in common with the earlier doctrine. There is some hint of an escape of gaseous matter after the original formation of the Earth's crust. The ‘granite problem’ is simply not considered.
- Kant . 1802 . Immanuel Kants Physische Geographie, Herausgegeben…von F. T. Rink 240 – 240 . Königsberg 2 vols
- Geikie , A. 1905 . The Founders of Geology 213 – 213 . London
- Ospovat , A.M. 1980 . The Importance of Regional Geology in the Geological Theories of Abraham Gottlob Werner: a Contrary Opinion . Annals of Science , 37 : 433 – 440 .
- There is no reference to Werner anywhere in Kant's writings. See Martin G. Allgemeiner Kantindex zu Kants Gesammelten Schriften … Band 20 Dritte Abteilung: Personenindex Berlin 1969 135 135
- Their dates are Kant 1724–1804 Werner, 1749–1817
- Werner did not, however, ignore cosmology in his teaching at Freiberg. We know from one lecture, published the year after his death, that his Neptunist geognosy was situated conceptually within a cosmological framework. See Werner A.G. Allgemeine Betrachtungen über den festen Erdkörper. Eine Vorlesung des Bergraths Werner Auswahl aus den Schriften der Gesellschaft für Mineralogie zu Dresden 1818 1 39 56
- For this distinction, see Oldroyd D.R. Historicism and the Rise of Historical Geology History of Science 1979 17 191 213 117–57
- A brief summary previously available in English is Rabel G. Kant Oxford 1963 14 78
- Compare Scottish Universities Commission 1826–30: Evidence London 1837 620 620
- These Latin words appeared also in Aepinus's paper in The Gentleman's Magazine
- According to the Catalogues of the British Library and the Bibliothèque Nationale, Giovanni Maria Della Torre published a number of works in the second half of the eighteenth century on Vesuvius and its eruptions, but these have not been accessible to us in Australia. Della Torre (1713–82) was Director of the Royal Library and the Royal Printing Press for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. According to the editors of Kant's collected works Scottish Universities Commission 1826–30: Evidence London 1837 476 476 the work of della Torre used by Kant was: Geschichte der Naturbegebenheiten des Vesur von den ältesten Zeiten bis zum Jahre 1779 (Altenburg, 1783).
- Kant uses the word ‘Hornstein’, which could correspond to the term ‘hornfels’, used today to describe certain kinds of metamorphic rocks. But the word could also mean ‘hornstone’, that is chert, or perhaps flint. Since the word is used alongside the term ‘primitive limestone’, we are inclined to take Hornstein to mean hornfels. Thus, if we choose to relate Kant's ideas to those of A. G. Werner (see above, p. 215), Kant would have been thinking of ‘primitive’ (non-fossiliferous) rocks, deposited shortly after the earliest type, viz. granite. (See Werner A.G. Short Classification and Description of the Various Rocks New York 1971 44 52 translated with an introduction by Alexander M. Ospovat and 64–6. The first German edition of this was published in 1786, and thus would have been unavailable to Kant directly. Werner's ideas were, however, widely known in Europe through the dissemination of his students' lecture notes.)
- Buffon supposed that submarine currents could be thought of as ‘rivers’, which carved valleys into the ocean bed as ordinary rivers carve the land surface. He supposed further that the river valleys presently to be seen on land were produced in the first instance when this land was formerly under the sea. See Natural History, General and Particular, by the Count de Buffon, translated in English … Volume I Edinburgh 1780 361 361 365
- See Wilson A. I. Observations on the Solar Spots. By Alexander Wilson, M.D. Professor of Practical Astronomy in the University of Glasgow. Communicated by the Rev. Nevil Maskelyne, Astronomer Royal Philosophical Transactions 1774 64 1 1 30. Wilson (p. 20) described sunspots as ‘so many vast excavations in the luminous substance of the sun’. He supposed that the Sun consisted of a fiery envelope round an opaque interior, so that the spots would correspond to gaps in the outer envelope. The cavities might be caused by the escape of some ‘elastic principle’ (p. 21) from the Sun's interior. Obviously such a speculation accorded well with Kant's hypothesis. Wilson also suggested (p. 23) that comparisons might be made between the irregularities in the surfaces of the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon.
- See Huygens C. Systema Satvrnivm, sive De Causis Mirandorum Satvrni Phaenomenôn, et Comite ejus Planeta Novo The Hague 1659 (Kant may have been referring to the well-known figure, facing p. 34 of Huygens' text.)
Annals of Science
Volume 41, 1984 - Issue 3