Ovídio, Lyell and Geology

Introduction. Both Ovid and Charles Lyell, separated by over 1800 years, approached physical changes on Earth's surface. Lyell benefited from his degree in classical texts at Oxford when preparing the first chapters of Principles of Geology (1830 to 1833) by quoting excerpts from Ovid's Me...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Althoff, Fernando
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)
Repositorio:Revista Terrae didatica (Online)
Idioma:portugués
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.periodicos.sbu.unicamp.br:article/8675882
Acceso en línea:https://periodicos.sbu.unicamp.br/ojs/index.php/td/article/view/8675882
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Metamorfosis
Princípios de Geología
Historia de la Geología
Metamorphoses
Principles of Geology
History of Geology
Metamorfoses
Princípios de Geologia
História da Geologia
Descripción
Sumario:Introduction. Both Ovid and Charles Lyell, separated by over 1800 years, approached physical changes on Earth's surface. Lyell benefited from his degree in classical texts at Oxford when preparing the first chapters of Principles of Geology (1830 to 1833) by quoting excerpts from Ovid's Metamorphoses (8 AD). Objective. This article presents the contexts in which such works were written and how they are connected. Methodology. This work comprises research in the XVIII and XIX centuries books about geology, as well as in papers about History of Geology and the geology of the Mediterranean area. Excerpts from Principles of Geology were collated with excerpts from Metamorphoses. Results. Lyell relied on a list compiled by Ovid of changes on Earth’s surface to support his uniformitarian view of the geological processes. Plate Tectonics show us Ovid's examples are indeed in the convergence zone of the African and Arabian plates with the Eurasian plate. Conclusion. This exemplifies the influence of myths and ancient texts over the emergence of science, and particularly of Geology.