The Greek Enlightenment in Science: Hermes the Scholar and its Contribution to Science in Early Nineteenth-Century Greece

The significance of Stephanides's work has been recently acknowledged and it has been partly republished with critical comments and extensive bibliography. See: Karas Iannis , (Epistemological approaches to the modern Greek scientific thought, Athens, 1995). For a study of his work and life see: Michailaris Panagiotis , “” (“Towards the formation of the scientific profile of Michael K. Stephanides”), Sciences in the Greek area (Athens, 1997), 21–30.

Michael Stephanides and George Sarton established a very close relationship as becomes evident from their correspondence which is now prepared for publication by National Centre for Neohellenic Research (ed. by Michailaris Panagiotis ). It is worth noticing that Sarton addressed Stephanides as “dear colleague and friend”, while he signed his letters as “” (George the Sinner) in Greek. Though in the papers of Stephanides we found no explanation about Sarton' s preference for signing his letters that way, we speculate that it is comes from his admiration of the ancient world.

Kuhn T. S. , The structure of scientific revolutions, ed. by Kalfas Vassilis , transl. into Greek by Georgakopoulos G. Kalfas V. (Thessaloniki, 1981).

There is a rich literature, mainly in Greek, about the Neohellenic Enlightenment. For those not familiar with the Greek language some of the most interesting studies in the international bibliography are the following: (a) Clogg Richard (ed. and transl.), The movement of Greek independence 1770–1821 (London, 1976), esp. pp. 77–169; (b) Clogg Richard (ed.), Balkan society in the age of Greek independence (London, 1981); (c) Demos Raphael , “The Neohellenic Enlightenment (1750–1821): A general survey”, Journal of the history of ideas, xix (1958), 523–41; (d) Dimaras K. Th. , La Grèce au temps des lumières (Geneva, 1969); (e) Henderson G. P. , The revival of Greek thought (1620–1830) (Albany, N.Y., 1970); (f) Kitromilides Paschalis M. , “The Enlightenment East and West: A comparative perspective on the ideological origins of the Balkan political traditions”, Revue Canadienne des études sur le nationalisme, x (1983), 51–70; (g) idem, The Enlightenment as social criticism: Iossipos Moissiodax and Greek culture in the 18th century (Princeton, 1992); (h) Koumarianou Catherine , “The contribution of the intelligentsia towards the Greek independence movement, 1798–1821”, in The struggle for the Greek independence, ed. by Clogg Richard (London, 1973), 67–86.

Concerning the value of the history of the “means”, the most important researcher of the Neohellenic Enlightenment, K. Th. Dimaras, wrote: “To catch the inseparable succession of the phenomena, which is the presupposition and the sequence of history, we have to appeal to the evidence of the man, whose history we want exactly to be informed: The average man, who is more a receiver than a transmitter” ( Dimaras K. Th. , “” (“Stages towards the new Greek society”), Epoches, xix (1964), 3–11, p. 7 (in Greek).

For a general study of the Enlightenment in national context, see Porter Roy Teich Mikuláš (eds), The Enlightenment in national context (Cambridge, 1981).

For the characteristics of Greek society in connection with trade development see: Yannoulopoulos Yannis , “Greek society on the eve of independence”, in Clogg (ed.), op. cit. (ref. 4, (b)), 18–39, and Kitromilides Paschalis M. , Cultural change and social criticism: The case of Iossipos Moissiodax (Princeton, N.J., 1992), 667–76.

Paschalis Kitromilides has discussed in detail the debate between the ancients and the moderns, op. cit. (ref. 4(g)).

Jones Richard , Ancients and moderns: A study of the rise of the scientific movement in seventeenth-century England (Gloucester, Mass., 1961), 119–47.

Apart from the well-known attitude of Sarton towards the study of ancient Greek science it is remarkable the way he tries to present M. Stephanides's work through Isis. In the early volumes of Isis we often find Stephanides's books and articles reviewed by Sarton himself, as for example iii (1921), 430; vi (1924), 538; and xi (1928), 467, 493 and 501.

Dimitrios Darbaris, one of the scholars who tried hard to popularize science (in addition to Synopsis of physics (Vienna, 1812) he also published a small book entitled Home teaching of Nature for the favour of children and girls (Vienna 1810)), wrote characteristically in the preface of his Synopsis of physics, pp. ζ′–η′: “Physics liberates us from the dangerous and miserable superstition under whose tyranny so many people inexperienced in physics are continuously tortured….”.

On the role of the experiment in connection with rationality for the determination of Nature we read in Hermes, 1814, 95B: “Observation, experiment and rationality should cooperate for the explanation of almost any natural phenomenon. I say, almost, because there are many phenomena, of which experiments offer proof but are without a rational explanation. Many times, also, the mind could foresee what experimentation cannot presently prove.” A very detailed study of experimentation in eighteenth-century Greece is: Xenakis Christos , “The experiment as a method of research and knowledge in the books of scholars during the prerevolutionary period”, Ph.D. dissertation, Ioannina, 1994 (in Greek).

Kierman Colm , The Enlightenment and science in eighteenth-century France (= Studies on Voltaire and the eighteenth century, lix (1973)), 13.

From the Italian publications used as sources for the Greek translations we note the following: van Musschenbroek Petrus , Elementa physicae conscripta in usus academicos (1st edn, Naples, 1751; 3rd edn, Venice, 1752); Nollet Abbé , Lezioni di fisica sperimentale (Venice, 1746–72); Martin Benjamin , Grammatica delle scienze filosofiche o breve analisi della filosofia moderna (Bassano, 1795); Smith James Edward Sir , Discorso preliminare agli Atti della Societa Linneana di Londra sull' origine e progresso della storia naturale piu particolare delle botanica … (Pavia, 1792). Mackridge writes: “It is worth noting that while the language par excellence of the Enlightenment was French (and, secondarily, English), many of the Greek enlighteners had access to the works of the Enlightenment only by way of Italian or German” ( Mackridge Peter , “The Greek intelligensia 1780–1830: A Balkan perspective”, in Clogg (ed.), op. cit. (ref. 4, (b)), 63–84, p. 67).

For the role of Bucharest see: Camariano-Chioran Ariadna , Les Académies princières de Bucarest et de Jassy et leurs professeurs (Thessaloniki, 1971).

For an overall examination of the impact of the Italian universities on the Greek scholars see: Vlahakis G. N. , “An outline of the introduction of classical physics in Greece: The role of the Italian universities and publications”, History of universities, xiv (1998), 157–80.

A general survey of Hermes is: Koumarianou Catherine , “Cosmopolitisme et hellénisme dans le ‘Mercure Savant’, première revue grecque, 1811–1821”, Actes du IV Congrès de l'Association Internationale de Littérature Comparée, 1966, 601–8.

More details about this Greek-Romanian Society are found in: Camariano Nestor , “Sur l'activité de la ‘Société littéraire Greco-Dacique’ de Bucarest (1810–1812)”, Revue sud-est européenne, vi (1968), 39–54.

Ad. Korais, (Paris, 1809), p. μζ.

Ad. Korais, Correspondence, iii: 1810–1816 (Athens, 1979), 366–7.

See: Koumarianou Aikaterini , “, 1813–1815” (“Hermes the scholar, unknown texts 1813–1815”), O , vii (1969), 33–112.

Hermes, 1811, 1.

A very interesting presentation of a relevant effort in late eighteenth-century Italy is: Delpiano Patrizia , “Per una storia della divulgazione scientifica nell Piemonte del settecento: Il ‘Giornale Scientifico, Letterario e delle Arti’ (1789–1790)”, Rivista storica Italiana, i (1995), 29–67.

Hermes, 1818, supplement, 1–24.

Hermes, 1813, 82.

Helmuth J. H. , (Popular physics against superstition) (Venice, 1810). The Greek translator was Stefanos Kanellos (1792–1823).

Agnesi Maria Gaetana , Instituzioni analitiche ad uso delle gioventu italiana (Milan, 1748), preface, quoted in Findlen P. , “Translating the New Science: Women and the circulation of knowledge in enlightened Italy”, Configurations, ii (1995), 167–206.

Hermes , 1816, 82. For views of the comets among the Europeans see: Genuth Sara Schechner , Comets, popular culture and the birth of modern cosmology (Princeton, N.J., 1997); Chapin Seymour L. , “On comets that can closely approach the Earth: From scriptural to enlightened interpretation, Whiston, Laland and DuSejour”, Proceedings of the Eighth International Congress of the Enlightenment (Bristol, 1992), 1156–8.

From the Indexes of Hermes the scholar, ed. by Fragiskos Emmanouil (Athens, 1976) we extract: Universal history of arts and sciences, 1811, 166–8, 169–72, 185–90, 230–2, 233–5, 266–75; History of mathematics, 1811, 215–16, 255–8; History of medicine, 1813, 123–9, 181–9, 197–202, 240–3.

Hermes, 1813, 81–86.

Hermes, 1813, 81.

See: Freudenthal Gad , “The problem of cohesion between alchemy and natural philosophy: From unctuous moisture to phlogiston in alchemy revisited”, Proceedings of the International Conference on the History of Alchemy at the University of Groningen, ed. by von Martels Z. R. W. M. (Leiden, 1990), and Freudenthal Gad , “Clandestine Stoic concepts in mechanical philosophy: The problem of electrical attraction”, in Renaissance and Revolution: Humanists, scholars, craftsmen and natural philosophers in early modern Europe, ed. by Field J. V. James Frank A. J. L. (Cambridge, 1993).

See: Kronick David A. , “Toward a typology of the 17th and 18th century scientific and technical periodical”, The serials librarian, ii (1977), 155–66; idem, “Anonymity and identity: Editorial policy in the early scientific journal”, Library quarterly, lviii (1988), 221–37.

Hermes, 1818, 469.

Hermes, 1818, 163–4. For a discussion of the ideological parameters of balloons see: Makrides Vasilios , “The perception of the balloon in the pre-revolutionary Greece”, Neusis, ii (1995), 91–117 (in Greek).

Hermes, 1811, 181.

Rollin Charles , Histoire ancienne des Egyptiens, …, des Grecs (13 vols, Paris, 1730–38; Greek edition, 16 vols, Venice, 1750).

Theotokis Nikiforos , (Elements of physics) (Leipzig, 1766–67), ii, 240.

Ibid., 242.

The impact of Volta on the scientific thought of his era is nicely described by his successor in the University of Pavia, Configliaghi P. , in Elogio scientifico di Alessandro Volta (Como, 1834).

Hermes, 1821, 279.

Hermes, 1817, 23.

Hermes, 1820, 18.

Hermes, 1811, 295.

Theotokis , op. cit. (ref. 38), 5.

Hermes, 1821, 274.

Hermes, 1821, 287.

Hermes, 1821, 271.

Hermes, 1821, 288.

Hermes, 1821, 291.

Hermes, 1821, 291.

Hermes , 1811, 181–3 and 297–307. For a discussion of the phlogiston's fate during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries see: Allchin Douglas , “Phlogiston after oxygen”, Ambix, xxxix (1992), 110–16; idem, “James Hutton and phlogiston”, Annals of science, li (1994), 615–35. The popularity of the discussion on phlogiston during the early nineteenth century is reflected also in the publication of a small pamphlet titled: (A general idea about some properties of the bodies and about the nature and the properties of phlogiston) (Livorno, 1806).

For a detailed discussion of ‘’ see: Andriotis A. N. , “” (“A critical approach to Benjamin's theory concerning ‘Pantachekiniton’”), Proceedings of the Panhellenic Symposium “Veniamin of Lesvos” (Athens, 1985), 243–9.

Hermes, 1813, 22.

The overall discussion took place in the following pages of Hermes , 1813: 21–24 (Benjamin Lesvios), 94–104 (Neophytos Vamvas), 168–77 (Panagiotis Zontanou), 217–24 (Benjamin Lesvios), 224–40 (Georgios Glarakis, who became later Minister of Education of the independent Greek state).

This is the assessment of Iannis Karas in his book, (Sciences during the Turkish occupation, manuscripts and printed books) (Athens, 1993), ii, 32.

The development of chemistry in Greece is described in: Vlahakis George N. , “The appearance of a ‘new’ science in 18th century Greece: The case of chemistry”, Nuncius, 1995 (2), 33–50.

Hermes, 1813, 275.

For a general review of the educational system see: Konstantinos Chatzopoulos, (1453–1821) (Greek schools during the Turkish domination (1453–1821) (Thessaloniki, 1991).

Hermes, 1813, 158.

Hermes, 1814, 37.

Hermes, 1820, 152–68.

Hermes, 1813, 440.

Hermes, 1821, 22.

Hermes, 1813, 51–52.

See: Karas Iannis , (The natural sciences in the Greek area (15th-19th century)) (Athens, 1991), 232–62.

Ibid.

Hermes, 1813, 69.

The close relationship of Barbie du Bocage and Greek intellectual circles is revealed by his correspondence with some of them. See: Koumarianou Aik (ed.), Daniel Filippidis–Barbie du Bocage–Anthimos Gazis: Correspondence (Athens, 1966).

Hermes, 1817, 516.

Hermes, 1816, 125. The original was: de Jouy Victor-Joseph , Jeux des cartes instructives: Géographie (Paris, 1804).

Hermes, 1817, 208.

Hermes, 1818, 169.

Godlewska Anne , “L'influence d'un homme sur la géographie française: Conrad Malte Brun (1775–1826)”, Annales de géographie, no. 558 (1991), 190–206.

Hermes, 1816, 212–22 and 239–53.

Hermes, 1819, 355.

Hermes, 1821, 170.

Karas , op. cit. (ref. 56).

Hermes, 1813, 69–74.

Hermes, 1814, 117.

Hermes, 1813, 189–96.

Hermes, 1815, 116–17.

Hermes, 1813, 193. Sieber actually published two books describing his impressions: Sieber Franz Wilhelm , Reise nach der Inseln Kreta im griechischen Archipelagos, im Jahre 1817 (Leipzig and Sorace, 1822), and Reise von Cairo nach Jerusalem und wieder zuruck, nebst Beleuchtung einiger heiligen Orten (Prague and Leipzig, 1823).

Hermes, 1813, 193.

Hermes, 1812, 253–6 (tobacco), 256 (coffee).

Hermes, 1817, 28–29.

Hermes, 1812, 225–7.

We have twenty-three references to Linnaeus and his work during all the period of the publication of Hermes. And we cite especially an announcement of A. L. Marquis's new botanical book (1813, 223), where it is mentioned that he restores botany in the Linnean abridged version.

Hermes, 1816, 94–95.

Karas , op. cit. (ref. 66), 189–200.

One of the most popular books on arithmetic was (Venice, 1568), known simply as Glyzounis. Other editions: 1569, 1596 (two), 1621, 1641, 1654, 1679, 1681, 1684, 1724, 1750, 1765, 1777, 1779, 1783, 1804, 1805, 1818, all published in Venice.

Hermes, 1812, 247.

Karas Iannis , (German impacts in the thought of the years of the Neohellẹnic Renaissance: The case of Stephanos Doungas) (Athens, 1993).

Balanos Kosmas , (Vienna, 1816), 36, where the answer of the St Petersburg Academy is presented.

Lambrou Michael , “”, in Sciences in the Greek area, ed. by the Centre for Neohellenic Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation (Athens, 1997), 149–78.

Hermes, 1819, 763.

Hermes, 1821, 187.

The author refers to Leibniz's book Dissertatio de Arte combinatoria, in qua ex Arithmeticae fundamentis etc. (Leipzig, 1666).

Hermes, 1821, 237.