Edward F. Williams

“ In this way the scientific world was united in a common aim, the increase of knowledge, at a time when many of the nations were at war. In this way it was possible for every discovery in science, every theory advanced in book or essay, to be criticized and discussed by a body of men who certainly were not inferior in mental endowment or in attainment to any equal number in all Europe. It was natural, therefore, that a book published under the auspices of the academy should receive wide circulation and careful consideration. ”

“ Réaumer, a many-sided man, carried physics to the heights where Buffon and Cuvier found them. Yet during the first half of the century the academy was unable to point to many men of the first rank among its members. Nearly all of them were men of ability, eager in the pursuit of knowledge, but wanting in those peculiar gifts which belong to men like Newton, or Descartes, or Leibniz. ”

“ Yet there were men, and among them Humboldt the most distinguished of them all, who were deeply interested in all departments of science, men who sought to master at least their elementary principles and to render themselves able to judge intelligently concerning the conclusions which were reached. Since Humboldt passed away it is doubtful if any one has lived who in the extent and accuracy of his knowledge, the breadth of his vision and the soundness of his judgment can be compared with him as an equal. ”

“ Not long after the middle of the seventeenth century there grew up a feeling in the more cultivated circles that something ought to be done to increase the honor shown scientific men, and to make better provision for their work. Although science was in a more advanced condition in several other countries than in France, France was behind no one of them in her efforts to organize her scientific forces and render them of value to her people. ”

“ Prior to the revolution not much attention was given to scientific studies in the schools. but inasmuch as the members of the academy had received the best education, both in science and in philosophy, which France could furnish, it was entirely natural that the common people should accept their opinions without hesitation. The members of the academy lived simply, gave their time to their favorite pursuits, and through their publications had large influence on the civilization of France and even of Europe. The work of the academy through the century was directed by a few able men. ”

“ A master of the materials furnished by the most eminent scientists of the day, without claiming for himself to be an authority in any single department of science, he believed himself better fitted by reason of his acquirements, his acquaintance with the scientific men of every country, his wealth, his relation to the king, his leisure, than any other living man to write the book he proposed. ”

“ But the work of others is only an incentive to Humboldt to see with his own eyes and to set forth in picturesque language the features and striking characteristics of the countries in which he has lived. In doing this he is careful to show the effect of climate and the physical features of a country upon the well-being of men, for even he can not forget that it is for man that this world exists, and that it is to be studied for his sake and not for itself alone.
Astronomy, as known prior to the second half of the nineteenth century, receives extensive treatment in the "Cosmos." ”

“ It is not surprising, therefore, although the study of science was not wholly given up, that during the last quarter of the century the academy should lose much of its fame as a center of purely scientific research. ”

“ With the full, or even partial, acceptance of that theory new methods of study have been introduced into nearly every department of learning. In the face of such a theory it has been impossible to be satisfied with the old views of history, literature, philosophy, theology, to say nothing of science. It is therefore a matter of no little interest to know what were the views of Humboldt and his co-laborers during the period above mentioned, upon which the foundation of a new era was built. ”

“ New wonders in the heavens were constantly appearing. The results of mathematical calculations made astronomy an exact science. The law of gravitation, Kepler's laws of motion, knowledge of the pressure of the atmosphere, of the propagation of light, its laws of refraction and polarization, the radiation of heat, electro-magnetism, reentering currents, vibration chords, capillary attraction, in their discovery and in the increase of knowledge concerning their nature and importance, are all closely connected. ”

“ On every subject treated Humboldt either gives his own opinions or those of men whom he deems competent to speak. On astronomy we have not only what the ancients have thought, and the astrologists, but what the Herschells, Maedler, Arago, Leverrier, Laplace, Bessel of Königsberg, an authority on comets, and Faye, discovered and taught. ”

“ In the middle of the century France was behind countries like England, Holland and Germany in its knowledge of astronomy, geometry, physics and medicine. True such men as Clairaut and Réaumer were leaders in the academy from 1700 to 1750, but Clairaut can not be put by the side of Newton in mathematics, or even of Leibniz, nor, eminent as he was, had he the creative mind of Bernouilli. ”

“ As we think of this aged but vigorous man sitting down in his study in Potsdam with the learning of the world at his command, with every literary or scientific man in Germany or France or Italy or Russia ready to furnish any information he might ask, we can not help sympathizing with him in his conviction that he was indeed the best man living to write a book like "Cosmos." ”

“ Prior to 1740 the teachings of the church as to the origin of the earth were everywhere accepted. The entrance of philosophy into the academy added interest to its discussions. There were sharp differences of opinion as to what were living and what were dead forces. Leibniz had affirmed, Voltaire had denied, that the measure of force is as its mass multiplied by the square of its velocity. In this discussion Voltaire and Maupertuis took part. Every change in motion, said the latter, is brought about by the employment of the least possible amount of active force. ”

“ Discussions and differences in the academy increased and grew warmer with every addition to scientific knowledge, for the ability to harmonize the discoveries which were made nearly every year with what was already known seemed to be entirely lacking. Men had not yet learned how to compare one science with another. ”

“ The seventeenth century was one of the great scientific ages of humanity. It saw the birth of analytical geometry and of the infinitesimal calculus, the formulation of the astronomical laws of Kepler and Newton, and the workings of astronomical discovery. ”

“ Joseph Saurin, 24 years older than Nicole, a Cartesian in physics but a Newtonian in mathematics, was also eminent for his knowledge of geometry. Carre published the differential calculus of Marquis de l'Hôpital, and Varignon, Fontaine and Clairaut improved and rendered more valuable the discoveries of Leibniz and Newton. The differential calculus we owe, so it is asserted, to the two Bernouillis, Joseph and Jean. During the period from 1699 to 1750 the academy was an important aid to mechanics, and it made large contributions to the knowledge of astronomy and geometry. ”

“ It is not surprising that with his attractive manners, his genial disposition, he should rule the academy for a score of years, and that he and Clairaut should be universally regarded as its two greatest men, whose fame was eclipsed in later years only by D'Alembert and Buffon.
New sciences like embryology gradually appear, and the sphere of those already studied is largely widened. De Lagny, who died in 1733, made important contributions to geometry and trigonometry, Nicole to the calculus of infinite distances. ”

“ It might be dangerous, politicians suggested, to discuss historical matters too carefully and earnestly, and as lovers of literature were satisfied to remain in Richelieu's academy only science and art were left for the new academy. There were many reasons why lovers of art and architecture were not represented in the new organization.
Although scientific men had for many years been in the habit of meeting in private houses to discuss questions of interest in science, at first only mathematicians were admitted to the new institution. ”

“ In Paris he met Gay-Lussac, Laplace, Arago, Berthollet, and Aimé Bonpland, a young botanist who became his companion in travel and research, and in whom he found the friend and assistant whom he needed. Failing in their attempts to make satisfactory arrangements for explorations in Egypt and Central Africa, the two men finally accepted the protection and assistance of Spain, and decided to devote themselves to the study of the physiognomy, the plant and animal life of the tropical regions of South and Central America and Mexico. ”

“ Before speaking more definitely of the work done by the academy prior to its reorganization at the beginning of the eighteenth century, it should be noticed that in this academy we have the earliest example of cooperation in scientific study and of the endowment of research.
Colbert's plan was to bring men of scientific attainments together, and make it possible for them, at the cost of the king, to devote themselves entirely to work in their special departments. ”

“ Humboldt thinks that landscape painting was not without an influence on early attempts to write out descriptions of nature. Landscape gardening made its contributions also, through the rare plants and trees, flowers and fruits, it presented to the eye. ”

“ The author takes pains to emphasize the exceptional men who lead in new movements in travel, who make startling and important discoveries. Nor does he overlook the events which mark the beginning of new eras in the world's history. He has the rare faculty of making us see how striking contemporaneous events often are. For example, when Columbus discovered America, Copernicus was studying astronomy with Brudzewski in the University of Cracow. ”

“ To show what has been the result in the enlargement of the fields of human knowledge through the discovery of new means of sensuous perception, or of new organs, or instruments by means of which we are brought into closer touch with terrestrial and celestial objects. ”

“ From the christian fathers, as in the writings of Basil the Great, whom Humboldt especially admired, we have many descriptions, though even here the human element is always of prime importance. The Aryan races, natives of India and Persia, recognize the charms of nature, but still men are the objects upon which interest in their writing rests. ”

“ Phoenicians led in the early voyages of explorations. The Greeks followed and established colonies on the coasts of Asia Minor and on the southern shores of the Black Sea. Wherever Romans went they remained as conquerors. From the Phœnicians we have few descriptions of nature. From Roman writers like Cicero, Ovid, Livy, Cæsar, there are more. There are some also in the writings of the Greeks from Homer and Hesiod down, but for the most part the interest centers in man, not in the beauty or striking features of the region in which he lives. ”

“ To Hipparchus of Sicily, and Galen of Pergamos, physician and anatomist, he refers as men of the highest attainments. He praises the Arabs not only for their observations of the heavens and their careful mathematical calculations, but for their skill in chemistry and their experiments in order to discover its value in medicine. ”

“ He is at pains to show how nearly related to each other most discoveries are, and that they are made in almost every instance by men who miss only by a little the discovery of some great truth which a little while after, other more fortunate men see. Preparations, Humboldt tells us, for the voyages of great sailors just before Columbus were made in the twelfth century. ”

“ About this time Mesmer was in Paris and by his lectures and experiments created much excitement. The academy appointed a committee of which Dr. Franklin, then a resident of Paris as a representative of the United States, was a member, to visit Mesmer, but Mesmer refused to impart his secrets to him or to any one outside his chosen circle. Although de Jussieu was favorably inclined toward Mesmer and his methods, Lavoissier, Bailly and Franklin reported against him. In spite of the opposition of the academy, Mesmer prospered, though his theories were not widely propagated during the Revolution. ”

“ A picture of the animal as it appears in life is first given, then follows a cut of the skeleton and such other parts of the body as the dissector cared to exhibit. In the text a description is given of the animal as it ordinarily appears, with all that can be learned about it from classical and other writers. ”