Athanasius Kircher

 Germany, 1602-1680

The German Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher, S.J. is called the “Master of a Hundred Arts”, “Father of Geology” and “Father of Egyptology”. He has been compared to Roger Boscovich and Leonardo da Vinci for his enormous range of interests, . Modern scholar Alan Cutler called him “a giant among seventeenth-century scholars”, while scholar Edward W. Schmidt referred to him as “the last Renaissance man”.

Born the youngest of nine children in Geisa, Germany, he chose the Jesuits at age 15 because he wanted to learn. As a child, nearly died many times. He was swept under a mill wheel; accidentally pushed into the path of race horses and, as he entered novitiate, he contracted gangrene from an injury.  His gangrenous injury was discovered and declared incurable. Dying, Kircher heard of a nearby chapel with a statue of the Virgin Mary renowned for its miraculous healing powers. After fervent prayer, he retired to bed. Upon awakening, his legs, as well as a chronic hernia, had completely and miraculously healed.  The Thirty Years’ War broke out just as he graduated Jesuit College. Protestant troops forced the Jesuits to flee. While crossing the frozen Rhine, Kircher was swept downstream and nearly drowned. Refusing to conceal his Catholic priesthood as he crossed Protestant war zones, he was captured, stripped, beaten, and dragged by horse to a tree to be hung. A soldier, impressed by Kircher’s calm, prevented the lynching.

Kircher’s scientific work was impressive. He researched and compiled enormous amounts of data, invented innumerable optical, magnetic, and acoustic devices, including a magnetic clock and the megaphone. He composed music, poetry, and imaginative fiction, and collaborated with the great baroque sculptor Bernini in the restoration and erection of the obelisk and Fountain of the Four Rivers in the Piazza Navona. He was among the first to study bioluminescence, recognizing that fireflies flickered to communicate. During the 1656 plague, Kircher spent days caring for the sick. He was one of the first to observe microorganisms under the microscope. In 1658, he proposed the germ theory of disease, arguing that microorganisms caused the plague. He thus anticipated Robert Hooke, Antoni Leeuwenhoek and Louis Pasteur. He proposed hygienic measures to prevent the spread of disease: isolation, quarantine, burning infected clothes and facemasks to prevent inhalation of germs.

Kircher learned more than 20 languages, and pioneered the study of Egyptian hieroglyphs. According to Joseph MacDonnell, it was “because of Kircher’s work that scientists knew what to look for when interpreting the Rosetta stone”. He considered Egypt — not Greece — the true source of Western learning. He correctly linked the ancient Egyptian and the Coptic languages, earning him the title “founder of Egyptology.” Kircher was also fascinated with Sinology and wrote an encyclopedia of China, in which he noted the early presence there of Nestorian Christians. He demonstrated the falsehood of the common belief that Roman and Greek alphabets often miraculously appeared in stone. By drying clay, he produced many “letters” — composed mostly of straight lines caused by simple cracking. He argued animals might have changed after the Flood by adapting to new environments. He noted volcanic mountains could release more molten lava than they contained, and realized they must tap activity deep underground. He knew volcanic could activity could both destroy and build mountains. Many of his ideas on vulcanism are still used. He was arguably the first to depict the Pacific “Ring of Fire” on a world map. In August 2012, in his honor, a team of Italian and American geologists dubbed a newly discovered mineral kircherite.

He essentially invented the public science museum. His collection of artifacts, displayed at the Kircherianum, was considered the best in the world. For most of his professional life, Kircher was one of the scientific stars of his world: according to historian Paula Findlen, he was “the first scholar with a global reputation”. He spread the results of his own experiments and the research he gleaned from his correspondence with over 760 scientists, physicians and fellow Jesuits in all parts of the globe. The Encyclopædia Britannica calls him a “one-man intellectual clearing house”. His works, illustrated to his orders, were extremely popular. He was the first scientist to be able to support himself through the sale of his books.

By the 1660’s, Kircher began to withdraw from high profile intellectual life. In part due to failing health, he retreated to the countryside around Rome where he set to researching Latium, a volume detailing the geography and history of the area. In 1661, Kircher discovered the ruins of a church said to have been constructed by Constantine on the site of the converstion of Roman general Saint Eustace, who saw a vision of Christ’s crucifixion in a stag’s horns. He raised money to pay for the church’s reconstruction as the Santuario della Mentorella. Upon his death, his heart was buried in the church.