Speaker
Description
Gottfried Kirch (1639–1710), a German astronomer, calendar-maker, and author of ephemerides, kept observational journals throughout his astronomical career. In these journals, he documented astronomical, meteorological, and occasionally magnetic observations. Kirch’s observational journals, written between 1677 and 1710, are preserved in the collections of the Paris Observatory Library and the Archive of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. The paper aims to explore these sources by examining their history, structure, and Kirch’s note-taking methods. The proposed study investigates their significance for astronomical and meteorological research, their value in biographical studies, and their role in reconstructing the work of astronomers and their families in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Short Biography
Justyna Rogińska is Assistant Professor at the Institute for the History of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. She holds a PhD in the Humanities with a specialization in History. Her research focuses on the astronomical, meteorological, and calendariographical work of the Kirch family. In 2016, she was awarded a DAAD Research Grant to examine sources from the Archive of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. This research explored the Kirch family’s relationship with the Royal Prussian Society of Sciences during the first half of the 18th century.
| Keywords | Astronomy, meteorology, observational journals |
|---|---|
| justynaroginska3@wp.pl | |
| Affiliation | Institute for the History of Science PAS |
| Position | Assistant Professor |
