Cosmography

The term "cosmography" was introduced by Claudius Ptolemy (II century). Cosmography in the sense of science was understood as a discipline covering the subject areas of astronomy and earth sciences . In the process of specialization of science, cosmography was divided into a number of scientific disciplines, ceased to be an independent science and became an educational discipline in educational institutions of different countries.

In a narrow sense, description and mapping of the celestial sphere and celestial bodies ( descriptive astronomy ) can be called cosmography.

Another narrow meaning of the term existed until the XVII century : cosmography was called geography , especially descriptive geography in close connection with cartography , in particular, a description of countries and peoples.

In a broader sense, cosmography is now called a traditional ( folklore , mythological , religious ) or artistic (for example, science fiction ) picture of the world ^[1] . In this case, the term “ cosmology ” may be a synonym for the term.

Medieval cosmography covered the subject areas of geology , geography and astronomy . Cosmographs' works contained historical information and observations on the culture and mores of the peoples described. In this cosmography studied the relationship of man and the world. The localities of the earth were divided into "bringing disease" and "bringing healing." Cosmography also included astrology , trying to explain the possible positive and negative consequences of human nature with the help of constellations of the stars.

Famous cosmographs of the early New Age ( Mercator and others) developed cosmography as a discipline close to modern sciences: geography, geodesy, cartography, astronomy. The first globes and cartographic images of the newly discovered parts of the world date back to this time (after 1500). Some of the cosmographs of the early 16th century were supposed to defend their work from accusations of heresy by the Catholic Inquisition .

Iberian Peninsula

The accumulation of cosmographic knowledge in southwestern Europe has gained great importance since the end of the Middle Ages. On the peninsula, there were colonies of Italian merchant republics (primarily Genoa ). Here, the first attempts were made to establish maritime communications across the Atlantic with the ports of Flanders . The Christian kingdoms of the peninsula organized cartography of newfound areas: Portugal ( Henry the Navigator and the Sagres School), the kingdom of Aragon (cartography of the island of Mallorca ), Castile ( discovery of America ).

In the sixteenth century in Spain, the term "cosmography" denoted the educational program of the school created by the Royal Chamber of Commerce of India (Real Casa de Contratación de Indias). This program included all academic disciplines related to transatlantic shipping. The mandatory ones included mathematical training and the study of astronomy.

In Ancient Russia , mostly translated cosmographic texts were distributed. Not later than the XIV century, “ Christian Topography ” by Kozma Indikoplov became known. In the 16th century, the Geography of Pomponius Mela and the Cosmography of Marcin Belsky were translated. In the 17th century, translations of Orthelius's Cosmography, the Atlas of Gerard Mercator (without a geographical map called Cosmography, 1637), and the compilation Cosmography based on Mercator and Belsky (between 1665 and 1670), Geography were known. Jan Boter ( Giovanni Botero , 1680s) and “Geography” by Luca de Linda (end of the 17th century) ^{[2] [3]} .

In the Russian Empire of the 19th - early 20th centuries, cosmography was the subject that was taught in secondary schools and contained brief information on astronomy , geodesy , physical geography and meteorology ^[4] .

• Kozma Indikoplov . “Christian Topography” ( VI century ).
• Ravenna Anonymous. “ Cosmography ” (end of the 7th century ).
• Zakaria ibn Mohammed Qazvini . "Cosmography" ("Miracles of the Created and the Wonders of the Existing", in two books, 1263)
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Martin Beheim
• Johanna Bleu . "Cosmography".
• Peter Apian (Binevitz). "Cosmography".
• Nikolay Germanus . “ Geography (Ptolemy) ”, ( 1466 ).
• Vavinets Corvin . "Cosmography" (without a year; probably Basel, 1496 ).
• Martin Waldsemueller . Introduction to Cosmography (1507)
• Sebastian Frank Cosmography (1533)
• Sebastian Munster Universal Cosmography (1544) - 26 maps: fairly accurate maps of Cuba and other newfound lands, accompanied by a story about the first meeting of Columbus sailors with the "savages", and nearly 500 engravings included images of New World residents
• Czech Cosmography (1554)
• Gerhard Mercator
• Vincenzo Maria Coronelli
• Abbas-Quli-aha Bakikhanov . " Secrets of the kingdom of heaven " (1839-1840)
• Pierre Lafite . "Lectures on Cosmography" (1853).

Source Editions

• The book, called Cosmography, is composed of ancient philosophers, translated from Roman // Temporary of the Society for the Study of Russian Antiquities. - M., 1853. - Prince. 16. - The mixture. - S. 1 - 14.
• (Cosmography of Ortelius) // Popova N. Izbornik Slavic and Russian writings and articles contributed to the Chronographs of the Russian edition. - M., 1869. - S. 459-507.
• Cosmography of 1670 - St. Petersburg, 1878-1881.
• Shirakatsi, Ananias . Cosmography. - Yerevan: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR, 1962.

Russian education

• Textbooks
  • Kraevich K. D. The Beginning of Cosmography. - SPb., 1898.
  • Malinin A., Burenin K. Cosmography and physical geography guide for gymnasiums and real schools. - Ed. 7th - M., 1877.
  • Savich. Mathematical geography and the first principles of cosmography. - St. Petersburg, 1850.
  • Scharinghorst. Introduction to astronomy. - 2nd ed. - St. Petersburg, 1892.
• Teaching materials
  • The general program and instruction for teaching subjects in cadet corps, approved by the head of the Ministry of War in May 1898 - VIII: Cosmography.
  • Cosmography program for the VII additional pedagogical class of diocesan women’s schools. - Pg., 1915.
  • Collection of reports to the congress of teachers of physics, chemistry and cosmography. - SPb., 1914.
  • Proceedings of the First All-Russian Congress of Teachers of Physics, Chemistry and Cosmography. - PG., 1916.
  • Proceedings of the All-Russian emergency meeting of teachers of mathematics, physics and cosmography, M., 1917.

Research

• Western Europe
  • Podosinov V. A. Northeastern Europe in the Cosmography of the Ravenna Anonymous // Eastern Europe in a Historical Perspective. To the 80th anniversary of V.T. Pashuto . - M. 1999.
• Russia
  • Belobrova O. A. Cosmography (inaccessible link) // Dictionary of scribes. - Vol. 2. Part 1. - S. 493-494.
  • 8 Gluskina S. M. Cosmography of 1637 as a Russian revision of the text of the Atlas of Mercator // Geographical collection. - M .; L., 1954. - Prince. 3 .-- S. 79 - 99.
  • Cosmography dating back to the beginning of the second half of the 17th century / Translation from a foreign monk Epiphanius Slavinetsky; Reported by N. Abramov / Proceedings of the Imperial Geographical Society. - St. Petersburg, 1866. - T. 2. - No. 3. - S. 96 - 97.
  • Lebedev D.M. Geography in Russia of the 17th century - M .; L., 1949. - S. 208-219.
  • Popov A. Review of Russian Edition Chronographs. - M., 1869. - Issue. 2. - S. 189-193.
  • Raikov B.E. Essays on the history of the heliocentric worldview in Russia. - M .; L., 1947.-S. 121-132.
  • Rainov T. Science in Russia XI-XVII centuries. - M .; L., 1940 .-- S. 372-431.
  • Sobolevsky A.I. Translated literature of Muscovite Russia of the XIV — XVII centuries - M., 1903. - S. 41, 53, 56, 58, 59, 64 - 65, 221.

• Astronet. Index of literature on astronomy techniques