When Geology Encounters a Real Catastrophe
47
earthquakes were not, of course, a novelty in themselves; they had
been widespread in the sixteenth century, and remained common in
the early eighteenth century, as is illustrated by the work of Johann
Gottlob Krüger.
35 By 1756 the novelty lay not in seeking seismic phenomena among the Ancients or in sacred texts, but in the present and
the very recent past on the basis of information gleaned from gazettes
and collections of correspondence. This wealth of contemporary information fuelled the philosophical debate about the nature of evil, but
very often went far beyond this too.
When Scientists Interrogate the Earth
From 1756 onwards earthquakes provoked fierce debate in the physical sciences, a debate rivalling in intensity the metaphysical polemics
over the presence of evil in the world. The physical science debate
constitutes two-thirds of all the articles published on earthquakes in
the Mercure de France, a third of all those appearing in the Journal de
Trévoux, half of those in the Journal des savants, and over half again
in the Journal encyclopédique, with the rest comprising literary, religious or philosophical reflections.
36 It is not by chance that Kant’s dissertation of 1756 was devoted to seismological theory rather than the
workings of Providence.
37 Investigations focussed above all on the
scale and the propagation of tremors, as these surpassed all known
___________________________
Nederlanden, als buiten Europa door de Aardbevingen, waterberoeringen
Overstromingen en zeldzame Luchtverschynsels verwekt en voorgevallen (Utrecht:
1756); Johann-Friedrich Seyfart, Allgemeine geschichte der erdbeben (Frankfurt;
Leipzig: 1756).
35 Discours des causes et effects admirables des tremblemens de terre, contenant
plusieurs raisons & opinions des philosophes. Avec un brief recueil des plus
remarquables tremblemens depuis la création du monde jusques à present, extraict
des plus signalez historiens par V.A.D.L.C. (Paris: 1580); Johann Gottlob Krüger,
Histoire des anciennes révolutions du globe terrestre avec une relation chronologique
et historique des tremblemens de terre arrivés sur notre globe depuis le
commencement de l’Ere chrétienne jusqu’à présent, trad. M. F. A. Deslandes
(Amsterdam; Paris: 1752).
36 Grégory Quenet, Les tremblements de terre aux XVII
e et XVIII
e siècles. La Naissance
d’un risque (Seyssel: Champ-Vallon, 2005), pp. 74-89.
37 Immanuel Kant, “Histoire et description des plus remarquables événements relatifs
au tremblement de terre qui a secoué une grande partie de la terre à la fin de l’année
1755”, trans. Jean-Paul Poirier, Cahiers philosophiques, (mars 1999), pp. 85-121.
47
earthquakes were not, of course, a novelty in themselves; they had
been widespread in the sixteenth century, and remained common in
the early eighteenth century, as is illustrated by the work of Johann
Gottlob Krüger.
35 By 1756 the novelty lay not in seeking seismic phenomena among the Ancients or in sacred texts, but in the present and
the very recent past on the basis of information gleaned from gazettes
and collections of correspondence. This wealth of contemporary information fuelled the philosophical debate about the nature of evil, but
very often went far beyond this too.
When Scientists Interrogate the Earth
From 1756 onwards earthquakes provoked fierce debate in the physical sciences, a debate rivalling in intensity the metaphysical polemics
over the presence of evil in the world. The physical science debate
constitutes two-thirds of all the articles published on earthquakes in
the Mercure de France, a third of all those appearing in the Journal de
Trévoux, half of those in the Journal des savants, and over half again
in the Journal encyclopédique, with the rest comprising literary, religious or philosophical reflections.
36 It is not by chance that Kant’s dissertation of 1756 was devoted to seismological theory rather than the
workings of Providence.
37 Investigations focussed above all on the
scale and the propagation of tremors, as these surpassed all known
___________________________
Nederlanden, als buiten Europa door de Aardbevingen, waterberoeringen
Overstromingen en zeldzame Luchtverschynsels verwekt en voorgevallen (Utrecht:
1756); Johann-Friedrich Seyfart, Allgemeine geschichte der erdbeben (Frankfurt;
Leipzig: 1756).
35 Discours des causes et effects admirables des tremblemens de terre, contenant
plusieurs raisons & opinions des philosophes. Avec un brief recueil des plus
remarquables tremblemens depuis la création du monde jusques à present, extraict
des plus signalez historiens par V.A.D.L.C. (Paris: 1580); Johann Gottlob Krüger,
Histoire des anciennes révolutions du globe terrestre avec une relation chronologique
et historique des tremblemens de terre arrivés sur notre globe depuis le
commencement de l’Ere chrétienne jusqu’à présent, trad. M. F. A. Deslandes
(Amsterdam; Paris: 1752).
36 Grégory Quenet, Les tremblements de terre aux XVII
e et XVIII
e siècles. La Naissance
d’un risque (Seyssel: Champ-Vallon, 2005), pp. 74-89.
37 Immanuel Kant, “Histoire et description des plus remarquables événements relatifs
au tremblement de terre qui a secoué une grande partie de la terre à la fin de l’année
1755”, trans. Jean-Paul Poirier, Cahiers philosophiques, (mars 1999), pp. 85-121.