Opera Philosophica et Mineralia

Swedenborg, Emanuel. Opera philosophica et mineralia. Tres tomi. I. Principia rerum naturalium sive novorum tentaminum phaenomena mundi elementaris philosophice explicandi. II. Examen principiorum rerum naturalium cum phaenomenis magneticis. III. Principiorum rerum naturalium phaenomena mundi philosophice explicandi. Dresdae et Lipsiae, apud Fridericum Hekelium, 1734. Tre parti in un volume in - folio, pergamena coeva con dorso a nervi. (16), 452 pp. con grande ritratto dell' autore e 28 tavole incise in rame f.t. (alcune ripiegate). Rara edizione originale. D.S.B., XIII, pp. 178 - 81: E. Swedenborg (1688 - 1772). His carreer is one of the most remarkable in the history of science. In his Pricipia rerum naturalium (1734) probably conceived as a counter part to Newton's Principia, he sought a comprehensive physical explanation of the world based on mathematical and mechanical principes. Poggendorff, II, 1056 - 57. Mottelay, pp. 163 - 65. Wheeler Gift, 283: This is author's famous work on science. contains 250 pages on printed matter and illustrations on the causes and mechanism of magnetic force; the law of distance; magnetic declination, its causes and how its value may be caleulated. Ekelof, 235: The whole work contains much about the technologies of mining and metallurgy and also about the properties of metals, especially about iron and magnetism. But it is also a fascinating survey of the nature matter and of the laws of motion, which some historians have compared to Principia of Newton.