Mundus Subterraneus

For the music album, see Mundus Subterraneus (album).

Mundus subterraneus, quo universae denique naturae divitiae (very roughly "The subterranean world, all its riches" ^[1] ) is a scientific textbook written by Athanasius Kircher, and published in 1665. The work depicts Earth's geography through textual description, as well as lavish illustrations. ^[2]

Title page

Kircher had already advocated in favor of rationalism and natural laws in the explanation of phenomena, rejecting miraculous explanations. He expanded on the concept with this book.

Context

Diatribe de Progidiosis Crucibus ("Diatribe of Prodigious Crosses") is Kircher's most succinct and explicit statement in favour of seeking rational causes for phenomena through an understanding of natural laws, derived from observation, rather than seeking miraculous explanations. ^{[3] : 233–4} He pursued this in greater detail in Mundus Subterraneus (1665). ^{[4] : 154}

Partial translation

• The vulcano's: or, burning and fire-vomiting mountains, famous in the world: with their remarkables. Collected for the most part out of Kircher's Subterraneous world. And expos'd to more general view in English, upon the relation of the late wonderful and prodigious eruptions of AEtna. Thereby to occasion greater admirations of the wonders of nature (and of the God of nature) in the mighty element of fire, 1669, digitalized

References

1. "English to Latin to English Translator | Latin-English Online Translator and Dictionary - Lingvanex". Lingvanex. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
2. "Athanasius Kircher, Mundus subterraneus (1665)". OU History of Science Collections. 14 September 2011. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
3. Paula Findlen (2 August 2004). Athanasius Kircher: The Last Man Who Knew Everything. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-135-94844-3 . Retrieved 4 July 2020.
4. Sean Cocco (29 November 2012). Watching Vesuvius: A History of Science and Culture in Early Modern Italy. University of Chicago Press. ISBN   978-0-226-92373-4 . Retrieved 4 July 2020.

External links

• Mundus Subterraneus at the Internet Archive
• Media related to Mundus Subterraneus at Wikimedia Commons