Introduction

The Swedish Societas Literaria and the first decade of its Acta (1720–1729); Acta Literaria Sveciæ, 1720–1729: Summary of contents pertaining to the aurora borealis

Abstract

The thirteenth volume in the series presents all articles on the aurora borealis that were published in the journal of the Swedish Societas Literaria / Societas Regia Literaria et Scientiarum (now Kungl. Vetenskaps-Societeten i Uppsala) from 1720 to 1729. The articles are by the adjunct/professor of astronomy in Uppsala, Erik Johan (Ericus Johannes) Burman; the professor of mathematics in Lund, Conrad (Conradus) Quensel; and the adjunct/professor of astronomy in Uppsala Anders (Andreas) Celsius. E. J. Burman developed a theory of two kinds of aurora borealis and inspired other investigators across Sweden to observe the phenomenon according to his instructions.

The introduction, written by Latinist and historian of science Per Pippin Aspaas, consists of a short history of the society in the period including brief presentations of Burman, Quensel and Celsius. Furthermore, Aspaas summarizes the contents of all articles dealing with the aurora and presents extracts in English translation.

First published in July 2022. In March 2023, an updated version with fulltext searchable facsimiles was published. Some insignificant typos were corrected and acknowledgements added to the Introduction.