Protogaea, an ambitious account of terrestrial history, was central to the development of the earth sciences in the eighteenth century and provides key philosophical insights into the unity of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s thought and writings. In the book, Leibniz offers observations about the formation of the earth, the actions of fire and water, the genesis of rocks and minerals, the origins of salts and springs, the formation of fossils, and their identification as the remains of living organisms. Protogaea also includes a series of engraved plates depicting the remains of animals—in particular the famous reconstruction of a “fossil unicorn”—together with a cross section of the cave in which some fossil objects were discovered.
Though the works of Leibniz have been widely translated, Protogaea has languished in its original Latin for centuries. Now Claudine Cohen and Andre Wakefield offer the first English translation of this central text in natural philosophy and natural history. Written between 1691 and 1693, and first published after Leibniz’s death in 1749, Protogaea reemerges in this bilingual edition with an introduction that carefully situates the work within its historical context.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Claudine Cohen is professor of the history of science at the École des hautes etudes en sciences sociales, Paris, and the author of The Fate of the Mammoth: Fossils, Myth, and History, also published by the University of Chicago Press. Andre Wakefield is associate professor of history at Pitzer College in Claremont, California, and the author of The Disordered Police State: German Cameralism as Science and Practice.
“It is wonderful to have, at last, an English translation of Leibniz’s Protogaea, presented with a valuable introduction by Claudine Cohen and Andre Wakefield. Protogaea is a document of great significance for our understanding of earth science in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Through this carefully prepared and handsomely presented edition, students and scholars now have a fresh opportunity to examine Leibniz’s thinking about the earth, its history, and its natural operations. Cohen and Wakefield rightly emphasize the multiple contexts in which this work should be considered. These include Leibniz’s concern with both universal philosophical questions and detailed local description, his involvement in the latest mining and power technology know-how, and his responsibilities as a courtly historian.” (Kenneth L. Taylor, University of Oklahoma)
“The Protogaea reveals to us a very different Leibniz than we usually confront, and in this learned and readable edition, Claudine Cohen and André Wakefield reveal to us the Protogaea. This work shows us a hitherto unappreciated aspect of Leibniz's insatiable curiosity about the world. It is, furthermore, a window into one of the earliest and most influential attempts to come to grips with the deep history of the earth in a rigorous way.”
(Daniel Garber, Princeton University)“The first English translation, with parallel Latin text, of Leibniz’s often cited but rather rarely read Protogaea, with an excellent scholarly introduction. The work reveals the author’s extensive knowledge of ‘mundane’ matters and expounds his interesting speculations about the earth’s origin and history. With its reproductions of the original illustrations, this will be the standard edition, invaluable to both Leibniz specialists and historians of geoscience.”
(David Oldroyd, Honorary Visiting Professor, University of New South Wales)“The Protogaea is a wonderful exemplar of post-Cartesian science, attempting to explain such phenomena as the Flood and fossils in physical terms, subject to the laws of nature, occurring in a historical time frame that stretches well beyond the account of Genesis. We are indebted to Cohen and Wakefield for producing a superior version of it, with an introduction and annotations setting the historical context, a new Latin edition, and the very first English translation.”
(Roger Ariew, University of South Florida)"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Shipping:
US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Seller: GreatBookPrices, Columbia, MD, U.S.A.
Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 7760244-n
Quantity: 5 available
Seller: INDOO, Avenel, NJ, U.S.A.
Condition: New. Brand New. Seller Inventory # 9780226113012
Quantity: Over 20 available
Seller: PBShop.store US, Wood Dale, IL, U.S.A.
PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # FW-9780226113012
Quantity: 15 available
Seller: GreatBookPrices, Columbia, MD, U.S.A.
Condition: As New. Unread book in perfect condition. Seller Inventory # 7760244
Quantity: 5 available
Seller: BargainBookStores, Grand Rapids, MI, U.S.A.
Paperback or Softback. Condition: New. Protogaea 0.6. Book. Seller Inventory # BBS-9780226113012
Quantity: 5 available
Seller: Lucky's Textbooks, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Condition: New. Seller Inventory # ABLIING23Feb2215580060666
Quantity: Over 20 available
Seller: Brook Bookstore, Milano, MI, Italy
Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 2f74c87612323d3872c5df563ee8c039
Quantity: Over 20 available
Seller: Kennys Bookshop and Art Galleries Ltd., Galway, GY, Ireland
Condition: New. Presents the English translation of "Protogaea", a central text in natural philosophy and an account of terrestrial history. Num Pages: 204 pages, 15 halftones. BIC Classification: PDX. Category: (UP) Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly. Dimension: 153 x 230 x 13. Weight in Grams: 340. . 2010. Paperback. . . . . Seller Inventory # V9780226113012
Quantity: Over 20 available
Seller: PBShop.store UK, Fairford, GLOS, United Kingdom
PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # FW-9780226113012
Quantity: 15 available
Seller: Ria Christie Collections, Uxbridge, United Kingdom
Condition: New. In. Seller Inventory # ria9780226113012_new
Quantity: Over 20 available