Were the Natural Sciences Global in the 19th Century? The Case of Charles Darwin

2021 ◽  
pp. 80-90
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
The 19Th Century

Plutonism versus Neptunism at the southern tip of Africa: the debate on the origin of granites at the Cape, 1776–1844

2009 ◽  
Vol 100 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharad Master
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Contact Metamorphism ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Table Mountain ◽  
Late 18Th Century ◽  
History Of ◽  
Early Palaeozoic ◽  
The 19Th Century

ABSTRACTThe Cape Granites are a granitic suite intruded into Neoproterozoic greywackes and slates, and unconformably overlain by early Palaeozoic Table Mountain Group orthoquartzites. They were first recognised at Paarl in 1776 by Francis Masson, and by William Anderson and William Hamilton in 1778. Studies of the Cape Granites were central to some of the early debates between the Wernerian Neptunists (Robert Jameson and his former pupils) and the Huttonian Plutonists (John Playfair, Basil Hall, Charles Darwin), in the first decades of the 19th Century, since it is at the foot of Table Mountain that the first intrusive granites outside of Scotland were described by Hall in 1812. The Neptunists believed that all rocks, including granite and basalt, were precipitated from the primordial oceans, whereas the Plutonists believed in the intrusive origin of some igneous rocks, such as granite. In this paper, some of the early descriptions and debates concerning the Cape Granites are reviewed, and the history of the development of ideas on granites (as well as on contact metamorphism and sea level changes) at the Cape in the late 18th Century and early to mid 19th Century, during the emerging years of the discipline of geology, is presented for the first time.

3. Objectives of the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to the Galápagos

1956 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 9-12
Author(s):  
Thor Heyerdahl ◽  
Arne Skjölsvold
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
The Many ◽  
The 19Th Century

The first scientific expedition to the Galápagos took place, as stated, when Malaspina made his brief call in 1790. In the 19th century a series of other and more important scientific expeditions followed, among them notably H.M.S. Beagle which arrived in 1835 with Charles Darwin as naturalist on board. Right up to the present time naturalists have been drawn to the Galápagos due to its unique fauna and flora, and biologically and geologically the group has been carefully surveyed. The many visiting expeditions have, however, never assumed the special task of searching for archaeological remains, and no signs of early occupation have been reported, other than man-made caves in the local tuff and broken Spanish jars and porcelain, all properly ascribed to the late 17th century buccaneers and the 18th century whalers.

Between the inkwell and the scalpel: Italian literary transfigurations in medicine and anatomy from the 19th to the 21st century

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 707-720
Author(s):  
Alberto Carli
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Main Character ◽  
Literary Character ◽  
Mass Literature ◽  
Arrigo Boito ◽  
The 19Th Century

Arrigo Boito, author of Lezione di anatomia ( Anatomy Lesson), was able to sum up the deepest cultural theme of the 19th century in Italy using one single verse (‘Son luce e ombra’). Notably, the development of the dialogue between natural sciences, literature, anatomy and art illuminates the mixture of sincere admiration and fear felt by writers and poets like Igino Ugo Tarchetti, Emilio Praga and Carlo Dossi. The mood of Positivism, which could be found even in Fine Arts Academies, was the perfect backdrop and the very root of many ‘clinical details’ in the first examples of Italian mass literature. Dossi portrayed in Note azzurre his friend Paolo Gorini, a scientist and anatomical preparator. Thus, Gorini becomes a literary character, presumably being also the inspiration for the identification of peculiar death aesthetics and for other similar characters. Efisio Marini, another Italian scientist, almost coeval with Gorini, shared with him similar interests and practices. Marini, who died in Naples in 1900, used to petrify corpses for anatomical museums; he is the main character of a series of five historical and noir novels written through the first decade of the 21st century by the Sardinian author Giorgio Todde, establishing a link between the 19th and 21st centuries.

„Człowiek był krwawym bydlęciem od przyjścia na świat” – o nowoczesnej rasie „ludzkich bydląt”

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (3 (462)) ◽  
pp. 11-21
Author(s):  
Ireneusz Gielata
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Modern Subject ◽  
Modern Mind ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 19Th Century

The article, referring to the texts about crowd by Le Bon and Maria Konopnicka, presents the history of the modern subject who discovers wildness surrounding him. Recognizing wildness, the authors of the end of the 19th century reached for evolutionary logic, to be precise to the parameter of biological races treating the phenomenon of “crowd” as a sign of wildness. According to this logic, crowd became a kind of “desocialized horde” (Konopnicka), social “heap”, which was subject to temporary “regress”. Modern mind was then defined by street crowd through the discourse of natural sciences falling into an impassable aporia: lower – higher.

scholarly journals Anthropocene: New Geological Era or New Biophysical

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordi Lopez Ortega
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
The World ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Epistemological Dimension ◽  
Passive Object

The Anthropocene has created a new cartography where various discursive levels are intertwined. It unites two fields of knowledge: geology and anthropology. In the 19th century, Romanticism challenged the separation between natural sciences and spirit sciences. With the Anthropocene a geological era is established, but with an epistemological dimension: environmental catastrophes are not a passive "object", they become an agent of social and political change. Images of the world (Weltbild) turn nature into an animated whole that challenges the dual vision: observer and observed. There is no nature without "observer", nor geology without anthropology. The Anthropocene modifies the foundations of our view of the world where we had excluded life. This is how concepts such as symbiogenesis, homeostasis, etc., which make visible and try to explain phenomena that are otherwise inexplicable. The Naturwissenschaft by J.W. Goethe is a point of support, with all these ideas that develop in the 20th century and anticipate the Anthropocene term of the 21th century. While the concepts of "belief" and "science" continue to be sharpened, rehabilitating "old quarrels" around anthropology, cosmology, theology, etc. The dignity of man is at stake.

scholarly journals Gregorio Chil y Naranjo. Aproximación biobibliográfica y su relación con la Sociedad Española de Historia Natural

2019 ◽  
pp. 117-131
Author(s):  
Mari Carmen Naranjo Santana
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Canary Islands ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Spanish Society ◽  
Professional Career ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historia Natural ◽  
Siglo Xix ◽  
The 19Th Century

Resumen Las biobibliografías recopilan datos personales, profesionales y académicos de una persona que, por su trayectoria profesional, ha destacado en alguna de las áreas del saber. Si hay un protagonista relevante en la historia del conocimiento en Canarias es el médico Gregorio Chil y Naranjo, figura del siglo XIX destacada por sus aportaciones en campos tan diversos como la historia, la antropología, las ciencias médicas y naturales,… y por su proyección internacional. Dada su trascendencia estas páginas recogen una revisión bibliográfica de los textos escritos por y sobre el doctor Chil, completándola con una breve descripción de su biografía en la que se aportan nuevos datos como es el caso de su relación en la Sociedad Española de Historia Natural durante ocho años. Abstract The Biobibliographies collect personal, professional and academic data from a person who, due to his professional career, has excelled in some of the areas of knowledge. If there is a relevant protagonist in the history of knowledge in the Canary Islands, it is the doctor Gregorio Chil y Naranjo, a figure of the 19th century distinguished by his contributions in fields as diverse as history, anthropology, medical and natural sciences, ... and by his projection international. Given its importance, these pages include a bibliographic review of the texts written by and about Dr. Chil, completing in which new data is provided, as is the case of his relationship with the Spanish Society of Natural History for eight years.

scholarly journals Polémicas sobre una memoria ornitológica premiada y publicada por la Real Academia de Ciencias de Madrid (1882-1887)

2020 ◽  
pp. 81-101
Author(s):  
Manuel Garrido Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Review Process ◽  
Royal Academy ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Current Assessment ◽  
Siglo Xix ◽  
The University ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Real Academia ◽  
A Current

Resumen La Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales de Madrid premió la obra Aves de España. (Un dato más), presentada a concurso público correspondiente al año 1882. Escrita por José Arévalo Baca, el ornitólogo español del siglo XIX más reconocido a escala europea, catedrático desde 1877 en la Universidad de Valencia. En el proceso de revisión, la Sección de Ciencias Naturales de la Academia, evaluadora de la Memoria, indicó en su informe que el autor se había aprovechado de los trabajos inéditos de dos profesores ya fallecidos de Málaga y Valencia, sin citarlos: Higinio Aragoncillo del Villar y Rafael Cisternas Fontseré. Conclusiones que fueron refutadas por Arévalo con argumentaciones y datos inéditos que aportamos en este trabajo, pero que no impedirían que tras la publicación de su memoria ornitológica (1887), fuera en diversas ocasiones ninguneada en las dos acepciones del vocablo. Analizamos también distintos posicionamientos adoptados por miembros del colectivo científico decimonónico en relación a esa monografía y a su autor, finalizando con la valoración de la misma. Abstra ct The Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Madrid awarded the work titled Aves de España. (Un dato más), submitted it to public tender in 1882. The report was written by José Arévalo Baca, the 19th century Spanish ornithologist most recognized on a European scale and Head Professor at the University of Valencia since 1877. During the review process, the Natural Sciences Section of the Academy, referee of the Memory, indicated that the author had used the unpublished works of two professors from Malaga and Valencia, both deceased, without citing their names: Higinio Aragoncillo del Villar y Rafael Cisternas Fontseré. These criticisms were refuted by Arévalo with arguments and unpublished data that show here. However, in spite of his defense, Arévalo’s ornithological memory published in (1887) was, in several occasions willfully ignored. Likewise, we analyze stance of members of the 19th century scientific collective towards Arévalo’s monograph and Arévalo himself. We finish our study with a current, assessment of the Arévalo’s work.

The Reverend Dr William Henry Dallinger, F.R.S. (1839-1909)

2000 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Hass
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Spontaneous Generation ◽  
Educational Standards ◽  
Scientific Culture ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Scientific Institutions ◽  
John Tyndall ◽  
The 19Th Century

The parson-naturalist long played a respected role in English scientific culture. By the close of the 19th century this tradition had almost disappeared due, in part, to increasing educational standards and professional responsibilities. William Dallinger illustrates these challenges to the earlier tradition. Dallinger, a Wesleyan minister, came from nowhere to enter the portals of the scientific elite, yet found himself on the fringes of the scientific research community during the later part of his life. Dallinger followed the pattern of the older ideal typified by the wealthy Charles Darwin, who paid for his research out of his own pocket and used his home as his laboratory, while their scientific friends T. H. Huxley and John Tyndall were paid for their labours in the new scientific institutions of London. This paper follows Dallinger's dual career as cleric and scientist and seeks to identify the ‘invisible resources’ and ’motivations‘ that propelled an obscure Methodist cleric to be a pioneer in the emerging field of ‘protozoology’ and play a leading role in the spontaneous generation controversy.

scholarly journals Catálogo de la colección petrológica de Pere Antiga i Sunyer (1854-1904) del Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona

2019 ◽  
pp. 39-53
Author(s):  
Y. Díaz-Acha, ◽  
I. Díaz-Ontiveros
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Complete Catalogue ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Excellent Resource

Catalog of the petrological collection of Pere Antiga i Sunyer (1854-1904) of the Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona The didactic collections of natural sciences are an excellent resource for teaching at any educational level. In the 19th century, Pere Antiga i Sunyer treasured collections for the Antiga School, which he ran since it was inherited from his father. In 1888, when the school was closed, the collections were sold to the Martorell Museum, currently the Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona. The collection catalogue consisted of 100 specimens with their corresponding lithological description and localities. The curator of Petrology at that time, Maximino San Miguel de la Cámara, reviewed and registered 97 of these 100 specimens. Nowadays, only 47 records are preserved from the Antiga collection that have been studied and documented again. In the present study we detail the complete catalogue of the Antiga collection that includes the lithological description, the locality and the most relevant features of each sample.

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