Mineralogia Polyglotta

Christian KefersteinProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.5
Word count
568K words
Chapters
57

Tags

Foreign Language Books Natural Sciences Science EnlightenmentNature ObservationSlow ReadingAcademic StudyEclectic ReadingCross-Cultural View

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Mineralogia Polyglotta by Christian KefersteinAuthor: Keferstein, Christian, 1784-1866,Language: German, Class: QE: Science: Geology, Release Date: Sep 18, 2005

Editor's review

This book is a nineteenth-century mineralogical compilation by the German scholar Christian Keferstein, presenting mineral names and related records in a multilingual comparative format. It reflects early mineralogy's efforts in linguistic comparison and terminological organization. As a historical document, its value lies not in offering the latest conclusions of modern mineralogy but in showing how an era classified, named, and transliterated mineral names across languages. For readers studying the history of science, terminology, German-language literature, or early geological writing, this book offers a closely readable sample; general readers who approach it as a reference work can also sense the conventions and appeal of nineteenth-century scholarly writing. Because the original is in German and the book dates from an early period, reading it requires some language preparation and awareness of historical context; it should not be used as an introductory mineralogy text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the preface or editorial notes first to understand the multilingual arrangement before entering the main text.
  2. Consult a modern mineralogical dictionary alongside it to avoid equating old terms directly with current names.
  3. Sample entries by language or mineral category rather than reading straight through.
  4. Note transliteration differences as you read to support later research in the history of science or terminology.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
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  13. 13
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  15. 15
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  18. 18
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  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57

FAQ

Is this book suitable for learning modern mineralogy? No. It is a nineteenth-century mineralogical compilation focused on multilingual comparison of names and early records, not on modern mineral classification, genesis, or identification methods. For a systematic study of modern mineralogy, choose a contemporary textbook or field guide; this book is better used as material for the history of science and terminology.
What language background is needed to read this book? The original language is German, and both the text and arrangement are in German, so German reading ability will significantly reduce difficulty. Readers who know only Chinese or English can use dictionaries and translation tools, but should note that old spellings and technical terms may add obstacles; a slower reading pace is advisable.
Is the electronic edition from a reliable source? This book comes from Project Gutenberg, a platform known for providing public-domain ebooks, with texts organized and released by volunteers. As an electronic version of a public-domain document, it is suitable for reading and research, but readers should still watch for typesetting and character errors from scanning or transcription; key terms should be checked against other editions.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Christian Keferstein Author · German · 1784–1866

Christian Keferstein (1784–1866) was a German geologist whose research centered on the geology and paleontology of the Thuringia region. Judging from the limited materials available, his writings were markedly regional in character, focusing on the observation and description of specific strata and fossil specimens, and he belongs to the tradition of nineteenth-century German local geological survey and paleontological research. His representative work is Mineralogia Polyglotta; its title indicates mineralogical content and suggests a multilingual or compilatory character, which accords with the interest of European scholars of his time in organizing mineral names and terminology. Because public information is limited, details of his life, appointments, and academic connections cannot be established, and the present introduction can only outline his field of research on the basis of a small amount of work-related information. Overall, his work provided fundamental material for the geological and paleontological record of Thuringia and may serve as a reference for later researchers.