A D V E N T U R E S   in   C Y B E R S O U N D

Pantometrum Kircherianum (Wurzburg, 1669), a geometrical work describes a geometric calculator invented by the extraordinary Jesuit scientist Athanasius Kircher. In the same year he explained a kind of symbolic logic in another book Ars magna sciendi (Amsterdam 1669) and in a later book Tariffa Kircheriana (Rome, 1679) is a set of mathematical tables. These are three of the 39 books Kircher wrote. Some of them are huge, bigger than altar sacramentaries and with large print as if they were meant to be on continual display. Some of his other books are very well decorated with creative and entertaining drawings, such as his book of the bible stories Arca Noe (Amsterdam, 1675). In this book he makes it clear that he understands the evolutionary process; later biologists have been impressed by this remarkably progressive viewpoint.

The other books indicate his widespread interest and genius and why Kircher has been compared to Leonardo di Vinci. His first publication concerned magnetism: he emphasized the parallel between the forces of gravity and magnetism. Then he wrote of sundials, next on the Egyptian language, then on calendars, then on the 1656 bubonic plague. In the latter he attributes the plague to tiny animals which he had observed under a microscope. This is one of the earliest hints of what we today call "germs."

In 1680 Kircher is said to have correctly computed the ordinary (vs. forced) flight of a swallow at 100 ft/sec - and this before the invention of stopwatches!

He wrote about the Coptic language and showed that it was a vestige of early Egyptian. His interest in interpreting the obelisks led him to such a thorough study of the subject that princes, popes and cardinals appointed him to decipher various obelisks. It was not until the discovery of the Rosetta stone in 1799 that anyone else had any success. In fact it was because of Kircher's work that scientists knew what to look for when interpreting the Rosetta stone. He has been called the real founder of Egyptology by Erik Iverson in the Myth of Egypt and its Hieroglyphs

It is therefore Kircher's incontestable merit that he was the first to have discovered the phonetic value of an Egyptian hieroglyph. From a humanistic as well as an intellectual point of view Egyptology may very well be proud of having Kircher as its founder.

Since he was present at the violent eruption of Mount Etna in 1630, he had himself lowered into the cone for closer observation. It was good preparation for his two volume work, Mundus subterraneus (Amsterdam, 1665), probably the first printed work on geophysics and vulcanology. In it he held that much of the phenomena on earth including the formation of minerals was due to the fact that there was fire under the terra firma, an unusual teaching for those days.

Some of his works were really encyclopedic in their scope. One such is Phonurgia nova (Kempten, 1673) which contains all the then-known mathematics and physics concerning sound and includes his invention of the megaphone. Another is the popular Musurgia universalis (Rome, 1646), one of his longest works, which marks a crucial juncture in the development of music. He had the good sense to distribute 300 copies to the Jesuit delegates from around the world who happened to be in Rome for the Eighth General Congregation of the Jesuit Society (1645-1646) which coincided with the publication of his book.

Although he adhered to Aristotelian physics, Kircher had no tolerance for alchemy, which, by the way, was taken seriously by Newton and Boyle. Newton's calculus and Boyle's law were apparently enough to extricate these latter two gentlemen from the later ridicule heaped on their contemporaries who were engaged in the Hermetic arts.

Ars magna lucis et umbrae (Rome, 1646), treats also of the planetary system. In it he shows no inclination to follow the heliocentric system, but he does favor Tycho Brahe's model in which the planets circle the sun. Some other inventions are found in this book, such as the magic lantern, the predecessor to the movies. For three centuries a science museum founded by Kircher, (perhaps one of the first of its kind in the world) has survived in Rome. Recently the scientific items of this museum have been divided up and spread throughout three Roman museums. So broad ( and so well-known ) were his interests that he was the recipient of many scientific curiosities.

One such curiosity is occasionally on display at the Yale Beinecke Rare Book Library. It is the Voynich "cipher" manuscript, probably about five hundred years old, a scientific text in an unidentified language called "the most mysterious manuscript in the world." Written by hand in an unknown alphabet on vellum it has 102 leaves including 8 folding leaves with about 400 botanical and 33 astrological subjects in five colors.

Some of the plants have been identified as peculiar to America, so the earliest date would be the time of Columbus. To this day no one has been able to decipher it. One of Kircher's former students, John Marcus Marci, found it and brought it to Kircher because of his work on universal languages saying, ". . . for such Sphinxes as these obey no one but their master, Kircher." The present name of the manuscript " Voynich" is the name of the donor who was willing to pay $160,000 "for a book no one could read." It once belonged to Athanasius Kircher and had been on display in his museum.

As a youngster Kircher had three near-death experiences. While swimming in a forbidden pond he was swept under a mill wheel; later inadvertently he was pushed from an onlooking crowd into the path of race horses; and finally he suffered a gangrenous leg from a skating accident. The last cured suddenly after he prayed to the Blessed Virgin and it occurred to young Athanasius that he was receiving a great deal of divine protection and he did not forget these signs. In 1661 he found the remains of an ancient Marian church built by Constantine on the spot of St. Eustace's vision.

He restored the place as a shrine and visited it often. Then when he died his heart was taken and buried there according to his last request. It is rather remarkable that this brilliant geometer and encyclopedist, called the "Father of Geology" and of Egyptology, founder of the first public museum and skilled in so many other branches of knowledge should reveal such simple piety.

His Kircher Museum was considered one of the best science museums in the world. Among his inventions are listed the megaphone, the pantometrum for solving geometrical problems, and a counting machine. His discoveries include sea phosphorescence as well as microscopically small organisms (germs) which transmit epidemic diseases. It was by facilitating a wide diffusion of knowledge, by stimulating thought and discussion by his vast collections of scientific information, that Kircher earned a place among the fathers of modern science and the titles of "universal genius" and master of a hundred arts.

References

Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu (AHSI) Rome: Institutum Historicum

Bangert, William A History of the Society of Jesus. St. Louis: St. Louis Institute, 1972uis, 1810

Gillispie, Charles. C. ed., Dictionary of Scientific biography. 16 vols. New York:

Oldenburg, Henry ed. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. vols. 1-30. London: 1665-1715

Reilly, Conor A catalogue of Jesuitica in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London in A.H.S.I. vol. 27,1958, p. 339-362

Sommervogel, Carolus Bibliothèque de la compagnie de Jésus. 12 volumes. Bruxelles: Société Belge de Libraire, 1890 1960

Source: http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/jmac/sj/scientists/kircher.htm

Athanasius Kircher

1. Dates

Born: Geisa a. d. Ulster, Germany, 2 May 1602 [or 1601], Died: Rome, 28 Nov 1680

2. Father

Occupation: Academic, Man of Letters

He was the youngest of six sons (there were also 3 daughters) of Johannes Kircher of Mainz, D.D. His father studied philosophy and theology at Mainz, receiving a doctorate in theology. He was called first by the Benedictines in Seligenstadt to be professor of theology. Afterwards, he was called by the Prince-Abbot Balthasar of Fulda, who named him councillor and named him baliff of Haselstein (which I believe may be the abbey at Fulda).

The abbot was expelled due to political upheaval, and Kircher also lost his position. Thereafter he moved with his family to Geisa a.d. Ulster, where he dedicated himself to scholarship and raising his children. He declined all subsequent offers for political positions.

All six sons entered religious orders. I think the only reasonable interpretation is that the family was too poor to educate them otherwise.

4. Education

Schooling: Religous Order, D.D.

Lots of study, but all in Jesuit institutions. There is clearly the equivalent of a B.A.

1614-1618, Jesuit Gymnasium in Fulda, learning Greek and Hebrew.

c. 1618-1622, at Paderborn (Jesuit College?), studying humanities, natural science, and mathematics.

After the college was closed due to military pressure, he finished his education in philosophy at Cologne.

1623, at Koblenz, where he took up humanities and languages and taught Greek.

1624, at Heiligenstadt, studying languages and "physical curiosities."

1625-1628, studying theology at Mainz. Being ordained within the Jesuit order and admitted to the fourth vow, he would have had a doctorate in theology.

6. Scientific Disciplines

Primary: Geography, Astronomy, Optics

Subordinate: Occult Philosophy, Magnetism, Gol.

Kircher was a polymath. These categories do not give a fully adequate description of his interests.

7. Means of Support

Primary: Patronage, Church Life

Secondary: Publishing

While still a student, he taught to support himself. At Koblenz (1623), he taught Greek, at Heiligenstadt (1624), he taught grammar, and at Mainz, he taught Greek and conducted the choir. I am pretty sure that the three named places were all Jesuit colleges.

He worked for the elector of Mainz at cartography.

He spent a year of probation in Speyer (1629).

1628-1631, professor of ethics (philosophy), mathematics, Hebrew, and Syriac, at the Jesuit college in W,rzburg. He fled because of the pressure of the Thirty Years War.

1631, taught mathematics, natural philosophy, and oriental languages at the Jesuit college at Avignon.

1633, he answered a call to Rome by Pope Urban VIII and Cardinal Barberini. He was appointed professor of mathematics, physics, and oriental languages at the Collegio Romano. He resigned after 8 years (he seems to have had an 8 year contractual obligation) and returned to independent studies. All told, he undertook such independent studies for 46 years of his life. He was supported in Rome by Papal as well as other patronage.

Sometime around 1660 Kircher sold exclusive rights to publish his books to a prominent Dutch publisher for a large sum of money. Especially through his work on Egypt he had become a superstar. He is the first scientist I have found who was able to command support through the sale of his works.

8. Patronage

Types: Eccesiastic Official, Court Official, Aristrocrat, Government Official

ca. 1625-1628, Kircher came to the attention of the Elector of Mainz through his experimental investigations and was called to his residence at Aschaffenburg, where it was Kircher's duty to discuss problems of mechanics with the Elector.

During this period he was also assigned the task of surveying and making an exact map of the territory regained from the Protestants for the Archbishop of Mainz.

He had some connection with the Senator of Provence and scientific patron, Nicholas Peiresc. While in Aix (after leaving Avignon and before taking up his position in Rome), he entered into the circle around Peiresc. When Peiresc heard of his plans to take the teaching position offered by the Emperor in Vienna, he went behind Kircher's back to the heard of the order, Mutius Vitelleschi, and, through Cardinal Barberini, to the Pope, to prevent Kircher leaving by having him called to Rome.

Kircher dedicated his first book to the nobles of Avignon, including Peiresc.

1633, the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II appointed him to the professorship of mathematics at Vienna or the position of court mathematician, but Cardinal Barberini quickly offered him a position in Rome so that he would not go. Kircher's books on magnetism (1640) and the Egyptian language (1643) are dedicated to Ferdinand III. Ferdinand III supported the costs of having manuscripts copied and sent to Kircher.

Ferdinand also paid for the printing of books on heiroglyphics and ancient cultures (1652); he paid 3000 scudi printing costs, and granted Kircher a pension of 100 scudi, which his successor Leopold I also paid. Kircher, who apparently understood the patronage game very well, also dedicated individual chapters of the book on hieroglyphics to a variety of individuals in high places. Especially the study of Egyptian antiquities and hieroglphics made Kircher a cultural superstar of the mid 17th century, so that he could command patronage from almost any source.

1633, Urban VIII and Cardinal Barberini called him to Rome. Barberini was a major patron in Rome throughout Kircher's time there.

1637-1638, he accompanied the later Cardinal Friedrich of Hessen-Darmstadt to Malta as his confessor. Friedrich converted to Catholicism under the tutelage of Barberini, and through this contact became impressed with Kircher, whom he specially requested as his confessor.

Cardinal Fabius Chigi, later Pope Alexander VII, was a patron.

Kircher dedicated two volumes of one of his works to the Prince of Fulda, Joachim, Baron of Gravenegg.

Kircher's notable museum was founded with a donation from Alfons Donnius, secretary of the Roman Senate and people. From a wide variety of nobles and rulers, mostly German, he received extensive gifts of stuffed animals and birds from the new world for the museum. The museum also inclued a notable collection of portraits of ecclesiastical officials and rulers, all of which we given to him.

Kircher's disciple, Caspar Schott, produced a commentary on Kircher's pantometer (see technical connections) which he dedicated to Duke Ludwig von Mecklenburg, one of Kircher's patrons.

When Kircher "translated" the hieroglyphs on an obelisk for the Pope, the Pope asked him what he wanted in return. Kircher refused anything for himself but asked for a donation to the church he was restoring (see below). He received a very large one. After he dedicated a book to the next Pope, he was asked again what he wanted and replied in the same way. The gift this time was significant but not nearly as large as the other.

Finally, an episode which illustrates how well Kircher was tied into sources of patronagae toward the end of his life: In 1665, Kircher discovered the spot where a miraculous deer with a crucifix between its antlers had appeared to St. Eustachius and resolved to rebuild the ruined church which marked the spot. First, he received a letter of credit for 100 scudi from the Duke of Braunschweig-L,neberg.

After he published Historia Eustachio-Mariana (1665), he received a draft for 1000 imperials from Emperor Leopold, 400 scudi from Johann Friedrich, Count of Wallenstein and Archbishop of Prague, and 700 scudi from Peter of Aragon, Viceroy of Naples. He collected large sums for this project from Catholic rulers all over Germany.

9. Technological Involvement

Types: Instruments, Navigation, Cartography

These are not especially significant technical connections (except the longitude one): he described a device for measuring magentic force using a balance, promulgated the use of magnetic inclinations to find longitude, described a graduated aerometer, and described the method of measuring temperature by the bouyancy of small balls. He also designed and built sundials at Koblenz and Mainz.

From time to time he also did surveying and mapping, e.g., for the Elector of Mainz, and while in Narbonne (before he arrived at Avignon). In connection with this he developed a triangulation instrument.

1638, Kircher wrote and dedicated to Paul Lascaris, the Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of St. John (the Johanniterordens), a book for the use of knights designed to help them solve "the most important mathematical and physical problems." This involved, as I understand it, a mathematical instrument, which I believe was called Kircher's pantometer.

10. Scientific Societies

Memberships: None

Connections: He acted as a kind of astronomical clearing house for observations between G.B. Riccioli, G.D. Cassini, and Hevelius.

Kircher worked closely with Caspar Schott, S.J., and Joseph Petrucci.

Sources

1. Fritz Krafft, Neue deutsche Biographie 11, 641b-5a.

2. Karl Brischar, P. Athanasius Kircher, ein Lebensbild, Katholische Studien, 3, no. 5 (1877).

3. John Fletcher, Astronomy in the Life and Correspondence of Athanasius Kircher, Isis, 61 (1970), 52-67. Note: Fletcher is not particularly significant; I (Richard S. Westfall) put it down for reference.

4. Edmond R. Kiely, Surveying Instruments, (New York, 1947), p. 232.

Not Available and Not Consulted (by the compiler, Richard S. Westfall)

1. John Fletcher, ed., Athanasius Kircher und seine Beziehungen zum gehlehrten Europa seiner Zeit, (Wolfenb,tteler Arbeiten zur Barockforschung, 17), (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1988).

2. Alfonso Mirto, Le lettere de Athanasius Kircher della Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Atti e memorie dell'Accademia Toscana di Scienze e Lettere "La Comombaria", 54 (1989), 125-65.

3. Bartola Alberto, Il matematico e gli astri: Contributo allo studio dell'arithmologia di Athanasius Kircher, in Gli arcani delle stelle: Astrologi e astrologia nella Biblioteca Casanatense, no ed. given, (Roma, 1991).

Richard S. Westfall

Department of History and Philosophy of Science