Aurorae Borealis Studia Classica

Friedrich Christoph Mayer and his theory of the aurora borealis

2021-06-18T13:39:54+02:00

The eleventh volume in the series presents two articles on the aurora borealis by Friedrich Christoph Mayer (1697–1729), a mathematician at the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg. The first paper, titled “De Luce Boreali” (On the Northern Light), was presented during a session at the newly founded Academy in October 1726. It was printed two years later (1728) in the very first volume of its official periodical, the Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae. The second paper, also bearing the title “De Luce Boreali”, constitutes the author’s ‘second thoughts’ on the matter. It was presented during a session in October 1728 but was not printed until after Mayer’s death, in the fifth volume of the Commentarii (1735). Both papers are included in facsimile in this issue of Aurorae Borealis Studia Classica.

Eric Chassefière, member of the Histoire des sciences astronomiques team of the SYRTE laboratory at the Observatoire de Paris, has written an introduction to Mayer’s life and works with a special emphasis on his theory of the aurora borealis. In his introduction, Chassefière also recounts how Mayer’s theory was received by other eighteenth-century savants.

De Luce Boreali

2021-04-08T13:52:04+02:00

This is Friedrich Christoph Mayer's second article "De Luce Boreali" (On the Nothern Light), as published in the Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae Tomus IV ad annum 1729 (printed 1735).

De Luce Boreali

2021-04-08T13:52:00+02:00

This is Friedrich Christoph Mayer's first article "De Luce Boreali" (On the Nothern Light), as published in the Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae Tomus I ad annum 1726 (printed 1728).

Dansk Folkekalender for 1841

2020-11-26T11:09:37+01:00

This is the entire issue of Dansk Folkekalender 1841, as published by Selskabet for Trykkefrihedens rette Brug [Society for the Proper Use of the Freedom of the Press] in 1840.

Translation of Ørsted's unsigned article on 'Nordlyset' (1840)

2020-10-12T10:14:37+02:00

English translation of Ørsted's original article.

Nordlyset

2020-11-25T23:25:31+01:00

This is the unsigned article 'Nordlyset' (The Northern Light), written by Hans Christian Ørsted, as published in Dansk Folkekalender for the year 1841 (published 1840).

Introduction and Summary of Contents

2020-11-26T10:19:21+01:00

The tenth volume in the series presents a hitherto overlooked item in the oeuvre of the famous discoverer of electromagnetism, Hans Christian Ørsted (1777–1851). A highly influential figure in cutting-edge science internationally, Ørsted was also active as a populariser of various kinds of academic discoveries and theories within nineteenth-century Denmark. However, no separate publication on the aurora borealis by Ørsted has been known until now. It is in one of the many contemporary collections of miscellanies for the general public – namely, in Dansk Folkekalender for the year 1841 (printed 1840) – that Kira Moss has discovered his unsigned article on “Nordlyset” [The Northern Light]. In her introduction, Moss presents evidence of Ørsted’s authorship, contextualises the place of the northern lights in Denmark in the period known as Romanticism, and presents a detailed summary of his own theory. As a supplement, she provides a complete English translation of Ørsted’s article.

Letter to the Editor

2020-03-10T21:42:23+01:00

Biographical Introduction and Summary of Contents

2020-03-01T10:34:41+01:00

In this introduction, MA student Laura Massini Nielsen analyses the role of the aurora borealis in Biergtrolden (The Mountain Troll), the very first poem of the seminal debut collection of Digte (Poems) by the Danish Romantic author Adam Oehlenschläger. The article begins with a biographical introduction, followed by a short overview of the Danish Golden Age that provides context for the reader. Massini Nielsen then briefly outlines Oehlenschläger’s works and, in conclusion, focuses on the poem Biergtrolden and on the role of the aurora borealis in it.

The Mountain Troll

2020-03-01T10:36:09+01:00

This translation follows the first printed version of Adam Oehlenschläger’s Biergtrolden, as published in Digte (Poems, 1803).