Introduction

The Swedish Societas Literaria et Scientiarum and the third decade of its Acta (1740–1750); Summary of contents pertaining to the aurora borealis

Abstract

The seventeenth volume in the series presents articles on the aurora borealis published in the journal of the Swedish Societas Regia Literaria et Scientiarum (now Kungl. Vetenskaps-Societeten i Uppsala) covering the years 1740 to 1750. In this period, the Acta of the society were edited by the natural historian Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné), who showed less interest in the aurora than his predecessors. One article on the aurora by Anders Celsius and another by his assistant Olof Peter Hiorter were however published. They are presented here along with the obituaries for three central auroral researchers from early eighteenth-century Sweden – Erik Johan Burman, Conrad Quensel and Celsius. In the Introduction, neo-Latinist and historian of science Per Pippin Aspaas summarizes these texts and provides a short history of the society in the period.