Athanasius Kircher
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Athanasius Kircher was a German Jesuit scholar of the 1600s who became famous for his wide-ranging investigations into subjects like ancient languages, geology, magnetism, and music. His work exemplified the ambitious, cross-disciplinary approach to knowledge that characterized the scientific and intellectual ferment of the early modern period.
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Athanasius Kircher (sometimes erroneously spelled Kirchner) was a 17th century German Jesuit scholar who published around 40 works, most notably in the fields of oriental studies, geology, and medicine. Kircher has been compared to fellow Jesuit Roger Boscovich and to Leonardo da Vinci for his enormous range of interests, and has been honoured with the title "master of a hundred arts".[2] Kircher was the most famous "decipherer" of hieroglyphs of his day <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Athan
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5 total works indexed
Works in European collections
36 objects attributed to Athanasius Kircher, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana
Athanasii Kircheri ... Latium : Id est, Nova & parallela Latii tum veteris tum novi descriptio. Qua quaecunque vel natura, vel veterum Romanorum ingenium admiranda effecit, geographico-historico-physico ratiocino, juxta rerum gestarum, temporumque seriem exponitur & enucleatur
Athanasii Kircheri e soc. Jesu Mundus subterraneus, in XII libros digestus ... tomus I [-II] ad Alexandrum VII pont. opt. max.
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Athanasius Kircher (2 May 1601/1602 – 27 November 1680) was a German Jesuit scholar and polymath who published around 40 major works of comparative religion, geology, and medicine. Kircher has been compared to fellow Jesuit Roger Joseph Boscovich and to Leonardo da Vinci for his vast range of interests, and has been honoured with the title "Master of a Hundred Arts". He taught for more than 40 years at the Roman College, where he set up a wunderkammer or cabinet of curiosities that would become the Kircherian Museum. A resurgence of interest in Kircher has occurred within the scholarly community in recent decades.
Kircher claimed to have deciphered the hieroglyphic writing of the ancient Egyptian language, but most of his assumptions and translations in the field turned out to be wrong. He did, however, correctly establish the link between the ancient Egyptian and the Coptic languages, and some commentators regard him as the founder of Egyptology. Kircher was also fascinated with Sinology and wrote an encyclopedia of China, where he revealed the early presence of Nestorian Christians while also attempting to establish links with Egypt and Christianity.
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1600s births1680 deaths17th-century biblical scholars17th-century Christian biblical scholars17th-century German inventors17th-century German Jesuits17th-century German mathematicians17th-century German scientistsAcademic staff of the Pontifical Gregorian UniversityAcademic staff of the University of WürzburgArchaeologists from Thuringia
