Jan Evangelista Purkyně: Fragments from the Diary of Perished Naturalist & On the Soul of the Earth and Romantic Science
Abstract
The first part of the publication consists of the first critical edition of a revised translation of a "forgotten", anonymously published book written by physiologist Jan Evangelista Purkyně (Purkinje; 1787-1869). The original book was published in German language in Breslau (Wroclaw) in year 1850.
It represents the personal philosophical legacy of the most important Czech naturalist of the 19th century. The book deals with problems of evolution, including spiritual evolution and the questions if the Earth has a sort of spirit and what are its qualities and manifestations.
It tries to solve the similar problems as one of the important streams of idealistic "Naturphilosophy" of its time centred around revolutionary year 1848 when Europe and America as well tried to find a new way of the perception of time and space that lead to modern sciences and contemporary worldview. The other part of the book concentrates on essays about return of romantic science expressed e.g. as the attempt to grasp the world as certain interconnected unity (Emanuel Rádl, Jaromír Loužil, Václav Cílek, Tomáš Hermann, Jan Janko).
Several author deal not only with Purkyně's personality and achievements but contacts with literature, poetry and fine arts (Stanislav Komárek, Anton Markoš, Zdeněk Neubauer). The attitudes of the authors of essay are often individual - they range from historical science to subjective writings on the "Zeitgeist" and the renewed interest in romantic science in which reason and emotions are mixed in often naive but powerful assemblage.
Extensive author disquisition and comments go along both parts of publication.