Observers of the Aurora Borealis in Europe: Journey into the Learned World of the Enlightenment

Description

The spectacular reappearance of the aurora borealis at the beginning of the 18th century, often observed simultaneously from different observatories in Europe, mobilized and federated a large community of astronomers on a European scale. It encouraged them to communicate the results of their observations and, in compiling exhaustive catalogs of information, has helped to establish a system of the aurora borealis that can be further studied in the future, according to the experimental method inherited from the previous century. This book is dedicated to some of the main aurora observers in Europe and to the human, institutional and philosophical context in which they evolved in the first half of the 18th century. Its reading should be seen as a retrospective journey through the scholarly world of the Enlightenment, during which the same scholars are frequently encountered and reencountered, yet each time in different contexts, or from different angles, with the aim of compiling an account of the swarming of ideas and encounters that constituted the development of experimental science in this pivotal period. Cover Title Page Copyright Page Contents Introduction Chapter 1. The Aurora Borealis Issue of the Affirmation of the Cartesian Mechanism and the Dispute Between Paris and Montpellier: The French Choice 1.1. Introduction 1.2. The two main systems of the aurora borealis 1.2.1. Halley’s system 1.2.2. Mairan’s system 1.3. History of the aurora borealis in the volumes of the Académie Royale des Sciences between 1716 and 1733 1.3.1. The silence on Halley’s system in Mémoires and Histoire 1.3.2. The memoir refused by the Parisian Academy of François de Plantade 1.4. The Montpellier actors: François de Plantade and the Société Royale des Sciences 1.4.1. François de Plantade, founder of the Société Royale de Montpellier 1.4.2. The Société Royale des Sciences de Montpellier 1.5. The Parisian actors: Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle and Jean-Jacques Dortous de Mairan, the Académie Royale des Sciences 1.5.1. The Académie Royale des Sciences 1.5.2. The permanent secretary Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle 1.5.3. Jean-Jacques Dortous de Mairan 1.6. The London actors: Hans Sloane and Edmond Halley, the Royal Society 1.6.1. Hans Sloane 1.6.2. Edmond Halley 1.6.3. The Royal Society and its relations with the Académie Royale des Sciences 1.7. Discussion of the reasons for rejecting Plantade’s submission Chapter 2. Joseph-Nicolas Delisle: Grandeur and Vicissitudes of a Newtonian Scientist with Thwarted Ambitions 2.1. Introduction 2.2. Delisle in the period before his departure for Russia (1710–1725) 2.2.1. Delisle’s beginnings in astronomy and optics, a Newtonian 2.2.2. Delisle’s setbacks at the Académie Royale des Sciences 2.2.3. Delisle’s great project: Histoire Céleste 2.2.4. Epilogue concerning the Parisian period 2.3. The invitation to St. Petersburg and Delisle’s Russian period (1726–1747) 2.3.1. The cartographic objective of Delisle’s mission 2.3.2. Delisle’s means at the St. Petersburg Observatory 2.4. Brief synthesis of Delisle’s scientific trajectory 2.5. Conclusion Chapter 3. The Creation Ex-nihilo and the Beginnings of the Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences: The Influence of Christian Wolff 3.1. Introduction 3.2. The foundation of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg 3.2.1. Historical context 3.2.2. Peter the Great’s Imperial Academy of Sciences project 3.2.3. The birth of astronomy in Russia 3.3. Christian Wolff, the aurora borealis and their first observers at the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg 3.3.1. Historical context 3.3.2. Christian Wolff’s conference 3.3.3. The quartet of aurora observers at the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg 3.3.4. The rejection of aurora observations by Mayer 3.3.5. Euler’s physical–mathematical explanation 3.3.6. Mayer’s philosophical position and possible reasons for his abandonment of aurora observation 3.4. The Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg 3.4.1. The setting up of the Academy 3.4.2. The clerical and noble opposition 3.4.3. Wolffians versus Newtonians 3.4.4. The problems of the functioning of the Academy in the decades 1730–1740 3.4.5. The regulation of 1748 refounding the Academy 3.5. Conclusion Chapter 4. Anders Celsius and the European Observation Networks, Setting Up a Science Society and an Astronomical Observatory in Uppsala 4.1. Introduction 4.2. The life of Celsius 4.2.1. The first years 4.2.2. The European journey 4.2.3. Maupertuis’ expedition in Lapland 4.2.4. The last few years 4.3. Three European networks for the observation of natural phenomena 4.3.1. The observations of the aurora borealis around de Mairan 4.3.2. Monitoring the variations of the magnetic needle according to Anders Celsius 4.3.3. Thermometry and meteorological records around Joseph-Nicolas Delisle 4.4. The Royal Society of Uppsala and Celsius’ legacy 4.4.1. Historical context of the Enlightenment in Sweden 4.4.2. Birth and development of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala 4.4.3. Relations between the Royal Society and the University 4.4.4. Celsius’ legacy 4.5. Conclusion Chapter 5. Genesis of the Academies of Bologna and Berlin, the Involvement of Women in Astronomy and the Gender Issue 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Three examples of “astronomical households” 5.2.1. The Kirchs: an artisanal-type household inspired by the guild tradition 5.2.2. The Manfredis: a household with a humanistic coloration inherited from the Renaissance 5.2.3. The Delisle family: an artisanal household where women took care of the family scientific heritage 5.3. Two examples of astronomical institutions: the academies of Bologna and Berlin and their observatories 5.3.1. The Academy and the Bologna Observatory 5.3.2. The Academy and the Observatory of Berlin 5.4. Astronomical households, institutions and gender in Bologna and Berlin 5.5. Conclusion Conclusion Appendix References Index EULA