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In a scholarly career spanning five decades, Rhoda Rappaport
published perceptive analyses of science in the culture of early
Modern Europe, France in particular, with strong emphasis on
geology's early development. Of the sixteen papers in this volume,
most focus on aspects of geology's cultivation during the 'long'
18th century, from the times of Hooke, Leibniz, and Fontenelle to
those of Lavoisier, Werner, and Cuvier. Among the topics most
closely treated here are the French mineralogical mapping project
initiated by Guettard; contemporary efforts to interpret the earth
historically (such as through Noah's Flood); and difficulties
presented by the vocabulary often used in traditional histories of
geology. Much of Rappaport's research addressed two problems
prevalent within 18th-century earth science: the proper
understanding of petrifactions, or fossil objects; and struggles to
establish reliable knowledge of the earth's past. She also examined
the chemistry of G.-F. Rouelle, which she saw as effectively an
attempt at systematic comprehension of the entire mineral realm;
trans-national features of scientific pursuits as illustrated in
the careers of the naturalist Vallisneri and the mineralogist (and
philosophe) d'Holbach; and aspects of science's promotion in France
through government patronage and academic privilege.
"An essential perspective for those seeking a serious introduction
to early geological science and a fundamental point of departure
for future research. . . . No other book has this scope and
conceptual focus." Kenneth L. Taylor, University of OklahomaIn the
years between 1665 and 1750, geology was a new kind of science,
combining physical law with historical process. Rhoda Rappaport
explains its novelty and provides a transnational account of the
development of geological thinking. She begins with the
establishment of formal institutions of international exchange,
including the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of
London and the Journal des savants in Paris, and shows how new
media fostered increasing communication among scientists,
particularly in England, France, and Italy. Early geological
thinking was thoroughly integrated with epistemology, historical
and biblical scholarship, natural philosophy, and natural history.
Ancient written documents supplemented what was called "physical
conjecture," providing human witnesses to past events. How to
combine elements of law, empirical observations, and texts posed
serious problems in debates about the biblical flood, which
Rappaport presents as a prime example of a well-attested historical
event. Buffon argued forcefully that geology should be wholly a
physical science and that historical texts were irrelevant to the
reconstruction of physical processes. Rappaport explains how his
contemporaries responded to this novel proposal and how Buffon
heralded the end of an era."
In a scholarly career spanning five decades, Rhoda Rappaport
published perceptive analyses of science in the culture of early
Modern Europe, France in particular, with strong emphasis on
geology's early development. Of the sixteen papers in this volume,
most focus on aspects of geology's cultivation during the 'long'
18th century, from the times of Hooke, Leibniz, and Fontenelle to
those of Lavoisier, Werner, and Cuvier. Among the topics most
closely treated here are the French mineralogical mapping project
initiated by Guettard; contemporary efforts to interpret the earth
historically (such as through Noah's Flood); and difficulties
presented by the vocabulary often used in traditional histories of
geology. Much of Rappaport's research addressed two problems
prevalent within 18th-century earth science: the proper
understanding of petrifactions, or fossil objects; and struggles to
establish reliable knowledge of the earth's past. She also examined
the chemistry of G.-F. Rouelle, which she saw as effectively an
attempt at systematic comprehension of the entire mineral realm;
trans-national features of scientific pursuits as illustrated in
the careers of the naturalist Vallisneri and the mineralogist (and
philosophe) d'Holbach; and aspects of science's promotion in France
through government patronage and academic privilege.
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