Athanasius Kircher
Back to people overviewAthanasius Kircher was a philosopher of history, physics, astronomy, mathematics, and linguistics.
In later life, Kircher's interests led him to studying natural processes and geology. Notable among his forty major written works was the ‘Mundus Subterraneus’ (1664). The book was the result of his investigations into the natural world after the 1637 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The text includes a diagram of Kircher’s theory that tidal movements were influenced by a complex subterranean oceanic system.
Drawing on Plato’s description, the book contains a map pointing to the location of the legendary island of Atlantis. At the Collegio Romano Kircher amassed a vast cabinet of curiosities, later called the 'Museum Kircherianum', one of the first public museums.
