Charles Lyell (1797–1875), who continued to assume that these boulders were carried by the
strength of strongly flowing waters. However, the location and nature of these boulders and
other moraines led some scientists to admit that ice transport would provide a better explanation
for the various observations. The Scottish naturalist, James Hutton (1726–1797), was the first to
subscribe to this idea. Others followed his lead and detected the imprint of climatic changes in
the fluctuations of the extent of the glaciers. These pioneers were the Swiss engineer, Ignace
Venetz (1788–1859); the German forestry engineer, Albrecht Reinhart Benhardi (1797–1849);
the Swiss geologist, Jean de Charpentier (1786–1855); and the German botanist, Karl Friedrich
Schimper (1803–1867), who introduced the notion of ice ages. But it was the DanishNorwegian geologist, Jens Esmark (1763–1839), who, in pursuing his analysis of glacier
transport, proposed in 1824, for the first time, the notion that climate changes could be the cause
and that these could have been instigated by variations of Earth’s orbit.
It was the work of these pioneers that led the Swiss geologist, Louis Agassiz (1801–1873)
to make the address to the Swiss Society of Natural Sciences of Neufchatel in 1837 entitled
‘Upon glaciers, moraines and erratic blocks’. It was also at the beginning of the nineteenth
century that the Frenchman Joseph Adhémar (1797–1862), not content with studying the polar
ice caps, attempted to explain in his book, Révolutions de la Mer, Déluges Périodiques (1842),
the pattern of ice ages stemming from the precession of the equinoxes. The astronomical
theory of the paleoclimates was born and would be continued, thanks to the development of
celestial mechanics, by the Frenchmen, Jean le Rond d’Alembert (1717–1783), Jean-Baptiste
Joseph Delambre (1749–1822), Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827), Louis Benjamin Francoeur (1773–1849), and Urban Le Verrier (1811–1877). In parallel, other advances were made
with the first calculations of the long-term variations in the energy received from the Sun,
variations due to the astronomical characteristics of the eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit, the
precession of the equinoxes, and the obliquity of the ecliptic. This was demonstrated by the
work of John Frederick William Herschel (1792–1871), L.W. Meech (1821–1912), and Chr.
Wiener (1826–1896), supported by the work of the mathematicians André-Marie Legendre
(1751–1833) and Simon-Denis Poisson (1781–1840).
This sets the stage for James Croll (1821–1890) to develop a theory of ice ages based on the
combined effect of the three astronomical parameters, a theory according to which winter in
the northern hemisphere played a determining role. This theory was much appreciated by the
naturalist, Charles Robert Darwin (1809–1882), and was taken up by the Scottish geologist
brothers, Archibald (1835–1924) and James (1839–1914) Geikie, who introduced the notion
of the interglacial. It is also the basis for the classification of alpine glaciations by Albrecht
Penck (1858–1945) and Edward Brückner (1862–1927) and American glaciations by Thomas
Chowder Chamberlin (1843–1928). However, geologists became increasingly dissatisfied
with Croll’s theory and many critics of it emerged. Many refuted the astronomical theory and
preferred explanations that related to the Earth alone. The Scottish geologist, Charles Lyell
(1797–1875), claimed that the geographical distribution of land and seas explained the
alternation of hot and cold climates, while others turned to variations in the concentration of
certain gases in the atmosphere. Hence, the French physicist, Joseph Fourier (1786–1830),
expounded on the first notion of the theory of the greenhouse effect. He was followed by the
Irish chemist, John Tyndall (1820–1893), to whom we owe the first experiments on the
absorption of infrared radiation and the hypothesis of the fundamental role played by water
vapor in the greenhouse effect. Later, the Italian, Luigi de Marchi (1857–1937) and the
Swedish chemist, Svante Arrhenius (1859–1927) proposed, along with other scientists of their
time, that the ice ages were caused by decreases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration.
In 1895, Arrhenius suggested, in an article published by the Stockholm Physics Society, that a
40% reduction or increase in CO2 concentration in the atmosphere could lead to feedback
processes that would explain glacial advances or retreats.
A revival of the astronomical theory became, however, possible with advances in the
calculation of astronomical elements by the American astronomer John Nelson Stockwell
(1822–1920) and the Serbian astronomer Vojislava Protich Miskovitch (1892–1976) and of
vi
Foreword
strength of strongly flowing waters. However, the location and nature of these boulders and
other moraines led some scientists to admit that ice transport would provide a better explanation
for the various observations. The Scottish naturalist, James Hutton (1726–1797), was the first to
subscribe to this idea. Others followed his lead and detected the imprint of climatic changes in
the fluctuations of the extent of the glaciers. These pioneers were the Swiss engineer, Ignace
Venetz (1788–1859); the German forestry engineer, Albrecht Reinhart Benhardi (1797–1849);
the Swiss geologist, Jean de Charpentier (1786–1855); and the German botanist, Karl Friedrich
Schimper (1803–1867), who introduced the notion of ice ages. But it was the DanishNorwegian geologist, Jens Esmark (1763–1839), who, in pursuing his analysis of glacier
transport, proposed in 1824, for the first time, the notion that climate changes could be the cause
and that these could have been instigated by variations of Earth’s orbit.
It was the work of these pioneers that led the Swiss geologist, Louis Agassiz (1801–1873)
to make the address to the Swiss Society of Natural Sciences of Neufchatel in 1837 entitled
‘Upon glaciers, moraines and erratic blocks’. It was also at the beginning of the nineteenth
century that the Frenchman Joseph Adhémar (1797–1862), not content with studying the polar
ice caps, attempted to explain in his book, Révolutions de la Mer, Déluges Périodiques (1842),
the pattern of ice ages stemming from the precession of the equinoxes. The astronomical
theory of the paleoclimates was born and would be continued, thanks to the development of
celestial mechanics, by the Frenchmen, Jean le Rond d’Alembert (1717–1783), Jean-Baptiste
Joseph Delambre (1749–1822), Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827), Louis Benjamin Francoeur (1773–1849), and Urban Le Verrier (1811–1877). In parallel, other advances were made
with the first calculations of the long-term variations in the energy received from the Sun,
variations due to the astronomical characteristics of the eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit, the
precession of the equinoxes, and the obliquity of the ecliptic. This was demonstrated by the
work of John Frederick William Herschel (1792–1871), L.W. Meech (1821–1912), and Chr.
Wiener (1826–1896), supported by the work of the mathematicians André-Marie Legendre
(1751–1833) and Simon-Denis Poisson (1781–1840).
This sets the stage for James Croll (1821–1890) to develop a theory of ice ages based on the
combined effect of the three astronomical parameters, a theory according to which winter in
the northern hemisphere played a determining role. This theory was much appreciated by the
naturalist, Charles Robert Darwin (1809–1882), and was taken up by the Scottish geologist
brothers, Archibald (1835–1924) and James (1839–1914) Geikie, who introduced the notion
of the interglacial. It is also the basis for the classification of alpine glaciations by Albrecht
Penck (1858–1945) and Edward Brückner (1862–1927) and American glaciations by Thomas
Chowder Chamberlin (1843–1928). However, geologists became increasingly dissatisfied
with Croll’s theory and many critics of it emerged. Many refuted the astronomical theory and
preferred explanations that related to the Earth alone. The Scottish geologist, Charles Lyell
(1797–1875), claimed that the geographical distribution of land and seas explained the
alternation of hot and cold climates, while others turned to variations in the concentration of
certain gases in the atmosphere. Hence, the French physicist, Joseph Fourier (1786–1830),
expounded on the first notion of the theory of the greenhouse effect. He was followed by the
Irish chemist, John Tyndall (1820–1893), to whom we owe the first experiments on the
absorption of infrared radiation and the hypothesis of the fundamental role played by water
vapor in the greenhouse effect. Later, the Italian, Luigi de Marchi (1857–1937) and the
Swedish chemist, Svante Arrhenius (1859–1927) proposed, along with other scientists of their
time, that the ice ages were caused by decreases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration.
In 1895, Arrhenius suggested, in an article published by the Stockholm Physics Society, that a
40% reduction or increase in CO2 concentration in the atmosphere could lead to feedback
processes that would explain glacial advances or retreats.
A revival of the astronomical theory became, however, possible with advances in the
calculation of astronomical elements by the American astronomer John Nelson Stockwell
(1822–1920) and the Serbian astronomer Vojislava Protich Miskovitch (1892–1976) and of
vi
Foreword