Celsius, Anders
Entry updated 31 August 2018. Tagged: Author.
(1701-1744) Swedish astronomer, professor of astronomy at the University of Uppsala 1730-1744, best known for his invention of the now universally employed Celsius (initially Centigrade) scale of temperature. Of Proto SF interest is his short speculation "Astronomia", written in a personal scientific diary or notebook circa 1735 and apparently first published in Gyllene Äpplen – Svensk idéhistorisk läsebok ["Golden Apples – Swedish History of Ideas Reader"] (anth 1991 2vols) edited by Gunnar Broberg. In this, Celsius briefly contemplates Space Flight, Future War with Earth, Venus and Mercury ranged against Mars and the Outer Planets, and interstellar flight with its lengthy transit times leading to a need for Medicine to increase lifespan. There is a suggestion of human Invisibility through perfect transparency, anticipating H G Wells's treatment of this theme in The Invisible Man (12 June-7 August 1897 Pearson's Weekly; 1897). For an English translation of the full text, see links below. [DRL]
Anders Celsius
born Uppsala, Sweden: 27 November 1701
died Uppsala, Sweden: 25 April 1744
works (highly selected)
- "Astronomia" in Gyllene Äpplen – Svensk idéhistorisk läsebok ["Golden Apples – Swedish History of Ideas Reader"] (Stockholm, Sweden: Atlantis, 1991) edited by Gunnar Broberg [nonfiction: anth: published in two volumes: hb/]
links
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