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14.2 Angelo Secchi and Geology
14.2.1 “Lezioni elementari di fisica terrestre”
Without any doubt, Father Secchi’s main contribution to geology is his book Lezioni
elementari di fisica terrestre (Elementary Lessons of Terrestrial Physics), published
posthumously in 1879 by his assistant, Father Stanislao Ferrari (Fig. 14.1). From
this book we can learn much about the scientist, the Jesuit, and the man.
In the foreword, Secchi modestly declares that the source book for his lessons
was the Corso di geologia by Abbot Antonio Stoppani (1824–1891), author of a
famous book published a few years earlier, Il Bel Paese, which was a wonderful
synthesis about what was then known about the geological history and structure of
Italy (Stoppani 1876).
Elementary Lessons of Terrestrial Physics collected the lectures prepared by
Father Secchi for the students of “a college of worthy youth” (“istituto di nobile
gioventù”) about the application of what he called “global physics” (“fisica mondiale”), which today we would call physical geography. Secchi stated that the book
was aimed at introducing pupils to the study of the Earth as the “home where we
live,” emphasizing the practical advantages of scientific progress (“la Scienza
utile”).
Secchi wrote this about global physics: “it is an extremely important application
of physics. (...) How beautiful is the study of celestial bodies, of the sun, of planets,
of stars (...), but to know these things is only an ornament of our science if no benefit
arises from it. But this is not the case with global physics: from it we can learn the
best places to live, the healthiness of the climate, the abundance of food...”
2
According to Secchi, the study of terrestrial physics (geophysics, as it is called
nowadays) has a practical benefit (“è d’un utile pratico”). This discipline is more
than merely describing and representing the Earth’s surface; rather, it treats of natural phenomena ruled by physical laws – their physical arrangement, the laws of the
phenomena that produce what we see, and connections between causes and effects
(“le loro distribuzioni fisiche, le leggi dei fenomeni che ne produssero gli aspetti, i
legami tra cause ed effetti”) – a vision well suited to the basic concepts of a booming young science. Such attention and endorsement of new ideas can be clearly
found in the chapters of the book, where Secchi focused on concepts that only later
would become fundamental to modern geology.
In Secchi’s vision, the term terrestrial physics seems closely related to the original meaning of the Greek word φύσις, namely, “nature,” thus including the study of
all natural phenomena observed on planet Earth, above and below its surface.
2 ”Un’applicazione della fisica estremamente importante. (...) Bello è lo studio de’ corpi celesti, del
sole, de’ pianeti, delle stelle (...), ma la cognizione loro non è che ornamento della nostra scienza,
senza trarne pratica utilità. Ma ben diversa è la condizione per il globo terrestre: dal suo studio
possiamo trarre informazione per la scelta più vantaggiosa nell’abitazione, per la salubrità del
clima, l’abbondanza degli alimenti...”.
14 Angelo Secchi and the Development of Geophysics in Italy
14.2 Angelo Secchi and Geology
14.2.1 “Lezioni elementari di fisica terrestre”
Without any doubt, Father Secchi’s main contribution to geology is his book Lezioni
elementari di fisica terrestre (Elementary Lessons of Terrestrial Physics), published
posthumously in 1879 by his assistant, Father Stanislao Ferrari (Fig. 14.1). From
this book we can learn much about the scientist, the Jesuit, and the man.
In the foreword, Secchi modestly declares that the source book for his lessons
was the Corso di geologia by Abbot Antonio Stoppani (1824–1891), author of a
famous book published a few years earlier, Il Bel Paese, which was a wonderful
synthesis about what was then known about the geological history and structure of
Italy (Stoppani 1876).
Elementary Lessons of Terrestrial Physics collected the lectures prepared by
Father Secchi for the students of “a college of worthy youth” (“istituto di nobile
gioventù”) about the application of what he called “global physics” (“fisica mondiale”), which today we would call physical geography. Secchi stated that the book
was aimed at introducing pupils to the study of the Earth as the “home where we
live,” emphasizing the practical advantages of scientific progress (“la Scienza
utile”).
Secchi wrote this about global physics: “it is an extremely important application
of physics. (...) How beautiful is the study of celestial bodies, of the sun, of planets,
of stars (...), but to know these things is only an ornament of our science if no benefit
arises from it. But this is not the case with global physics: from it we can learn the
best places to live, the healthiness of the climate, the abundance of food...”
2
According to Secchi, the study of terrestrial physics (geophysics, as it is called
nowadays) has a practical benefit (“è d’un utile pratico”). This discipline is more
than merely describing and representing the Earth’s surface; rather, it treats of natural phenomena ruled by physical laws – their physical arrangement, the laws of the
phenomena that produce what we see, and connections between causes and effects
(“le loro distribuzioni fisiche, le leggi dei fenomeni che ne produssero gli aspetti, i
legami tra cause ed effetti”) – a vision well suited to the basic concepts of a booming young science. Such attention and endorsement of new ideas can be clearly
found in the chapters of the book, where Secchi focused on concepts that only later
would become fundamental to modern geology.
In Secchi’s vision, the term terrestrial physics seems closely related to the original meaning of the Greek word φύσις, namely, “nature,” thus including the study of
all natural phenomena observed on planet Earth, above and below its surface.
2 ”Un’applicazione della fisica estremamente importante. (...) Bello è lo studio de’ corpi celesti, del
sole, de’ pianeti, delle stelle (...), ma la cognizione loro non è che ornamento della nostra scienza,
senza trarne pratica utilità. Ma ben diversa è la condizione per il globo terrestre: dal suo studio
possiamo trarre informazione per la scelta più vantaggiosa nell’abitazione, per la salubrità del
clima, l’abbondanza degli alimenti...”.
14 Angelo Secchi and the Development of Geophysics in Italy