Map of Threads

While observing heavenly bodies, Kircher came to the conclusion that planets did not emit light themselves and that they were not perfectly round in shape. The scientist described the sun spots as well, which he called ‘little clouds’. When explaining the structure of the solar system, he was guided by Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe’s (1546–1601) claim that the Sun and Moon circled the stationary Earth, while the other planets were in orbit around the Sun.

Kircher’s unrelenting zest for learning led the scientist to descend into the crater of Vesuvius and conduct an investigation there while the volcano was still smouldering after its destructive eruption seven years before. In his work "Mundus subterraneus" (Underground World) he also described the underground trembling he heard near the Strait of Messina. Kircher claimed that the variation in tides depended on the amount of water and its movement in the underground ocean, which, according to him, was connected to the surface oceans via system of underground corridors. In addition, these empty underground spaces were sometimes filled not only with water, but fire (i.e. magma), as well, the largest concentration of which lay in the Earth’s core. The awesome volcanoes were said to be “nothing but the vent-holes, or breath-pipes of Nature”.

Kircher took an interest in Egyptology in 1628 when he discovered a collection of hieroglyphs in the Speyer Library (Germany). In five years’ time, Kircher had taught himself the Coptic language and script, and in 1636 he published a Coptic grammar text "Prodromus coptus sive Aegyptiacus" (The Coptic, or Egyptian, Messenger). He claimed that the Coptic language originated from the Ancient Egyptian language, while Egyptian hieroglyphs were related to the hieratic script. Kircher aimed to prove that Adam and Eve communicated using the Ancient Egyptian language, and that Hermes Trismegistus and Moses were the same person.

Although Kircher never went to China himself, his book “China Illustrated” became an important source about Asia for 17th century Europeans. In the book, he compiled the written and oral accounts of Jesuits returning from missions in the Far East that discuss botany, zoology, languages, and religion, and presented his theory on the origin of Chinese culture, as well. Kircher compared Chinese and Egyptian hieroglyphics, deities, and other cultural aspects in an attempt to prove it originated from Egypt.

Kircher believed that the phenomenon of magnetism was the great “hieroglyph of nature” – the key that, if used properly, could allow one to understand and explain anything and everything. He considered heavenly power to be the central magnet of the Universe. In his analysis of the mutual affinity between the Earth, people, music, plants and animals, i.e. magnetism, Kircher suggested also applying the phenomenon of magnetism in medicine, hydraulics, in the construction of scientific instruments, clocks and toys. The magnetic clock he constructed was an actual working device.

Using numerous samples of music from his times, Kircher founded a theory that compared music to the then-popular “affect theory”: music was said to express man’s spiritual states – joy, loss, suffering, etc. These states were aroused by different positive and negative sensations. He believed that the harmony of music reflected the proportions of the Universe – the more harmonious music was, the more order there was in the Universe. In his work “Musurgia universalis” (Universal Music) he researched and described the composition of various musical instruments, hearing organs (comparing them to the hearing organs of different animals), the characteristics of a birdsong, created sketches of an automatic water-powered organ and wrote down an algorithm for creating music.

According to Kircher, mathematics (arithmetic equations and geometry) form the foundations of the world, because, if nothing else, God created everything with mathematical precision. Using various tables and diagrams, the scientist tried to make mathematics more accessible and understandable to as wide a range of people as possible. To that aim, he also created a system to facilitate the process of learning maths. He analysed the potential of various number combinations, created tables of symbol and number combinations and diagrams, and was one of the forefathers of text-deciphering mechanisms.

His interest in physics, the characteristics of light and optics drove Kircher to perform various experiments where he would test the laws of light and optical phenomena, and try to apply and demonstrate them under realistic conditions. The scientist could produce moving figures using mirrors and lenses (a prototype of the modern film projector, created back in 1671), project reduced and enlarged images on various flat surfaces (camera obscura, which influenced the invention of photography). He also experimented with large spherical glass containers filled with water, using them to concentrate the sun’s rays (the precursor of today’s lasers) in order to find out whether Archimedes could actually have used them to set the Roman ships ablaze when defending Syracuse. Kircher earned the reputation of a magician for his understanding and demonstration of these elementary light and optical phenomena and their laws, something that is quite obvious in our days.