Annals of Science最新文献

Meteorology is not one of the most discussed topics in Paracelsus studies, although it is closely linked to both Paracelsus' medicine and cosmology. Furthermore, it appears to be at the very core of Paracelsus' famous matter theory of three chymical principles, mercury, sulphur and salt, known as the tria prima. By discussing prominent examples of Paracelsus' explanations on how the tria prima operate within the stars, this article shows how the Swiss physician conceived meteorology within his own body of knowledge, obviously constructed in opposition to the Aristotelian-scholastic tradition, how he based it on a peculiar interpretation of the Biblical creation story, and made it the proper laboratory of his chymical matter theory, applying it first systematically to the field of natural philosophy, especially to celestial phenomena, even before using it for his medical theory in his later writings.

The study evaluates Paracelsus's and Paracelsian-Weigelian microcosmogonies, i.e. theories concerning the nature and creation of human beings, especially their biblical underpinnings, and particularly in the light of Luther's and Lutheran anthropological and biblical-exegetical stances. The Lutheran approach to the origin and components of human beings-as seen in Luther's early Magnificat Commentary and the Genesis Commentary of his late career-relied on such magisterial principles as adherence to sola scriptura, literal biblical exegesis, and the hermeneutical standard to 'let scripture interpret scripture,' whereas the Paracelsians, Weigelians, and Pseudo-Weigelians-in such works as Paracelus's Astronomia Magna (1537/38) and the anonymous Astrologia Theologizata (1617)-employed such extra-biblical concepts as 'sidereal bodies,' the 'light of nature,' and a microcosm-macrocosm theory based on an alchemical interpretation of the limus terrae of Genesis 2:7. Seventeenth-century Orthodox Lutherans, including Nikolaus Hunnius and Ehregott Daniel Colberg, castigated the 'heretical' in Paracelsus and the Astrologia Theologizata. The study also addresses the authorship of several texts entitled Astrologia Theologizata and speculates on reasons for the tracts' deviations from Paracelsus's views. The case study of Paracelsian-Weigelian microcosmogonies underscores the centuries-long staying power of some of Paracelsus's core theological concepts, which were both seconded by votaries and vituperatively criticized by opponents.

In this essay, I will compare the character, scientific style, and writing style of the American physicist Josiah Willard Gibbs and the French physicist Pierre Maurice Duhem. I begin with biographical notes to portray some significant moments of their lives. I will contrast their characters and scientific styles as manifested in their social and scientific activity influenced by the cultural traditions of their countries and the social and scientific milieu of their time. Also, in these sections, I will discuss features of their familial relationships that affected their youth, their psychology, and the shaping of their characters. I will compare their writing styles emphasizing the differences observed between Gibbs's dense and austere style, unlike Duhem's detailed and informative way of writing his essays. I will further examine the way by which each physicist used Mach's doctrine of the economy of thought in shaping their writing style. A final contrast is reserved for their pedagogical styles. In this case, I will let their students and colleagues speak for them, while I comment on why they did not leave behind a school of thought.