Z MINIONYCH CZASÓW Swego (prekursora myśli aktualistycznej) nie znacie…

Abstract

Own (the forerunner of actualistic thoughts) do not know…A b s t r a c t. Alongwith the recent establishment of the Section of History of Geological Sciences at the Polish Geological Society, attention to the need to worldwide promote the achievements of Polish geologists through publications in English in international journals is highlighted. A prerequisite to this, however, is an in-depth recognition of our achievements in the area of Earth Sciences, particularly from the period of the Enlightenment. In the context, geological notions of Hugo Kołłątaj (1750–1812), well known only as a progressive Enlightenment statesman and Catholic writer, are briefly presented. When he stayed in the Olomouc prison after the Kooeciuszko insurrection, he wrote a comprehensive treatise on the natural principles of early history of the mankind in the years 1795-1802, continued until 1809, introductorily scoped on the geological history. Unfortunately, this monumental work, as a three-volume book, was issued in Polish only in 1842. This overlooked dissertation, full of innovative thoughts toward a persistent investigation the principles of Nature step by step in her contemporary action, and extensively considered them in reference to permanent physical laws. The original methodological hypothesis stimulated his imagination of Earth history in the context of natural interpretation of the Biblical Deluge, even if the analytical-empiric approach was in some matters a continuation of thoughts of the eminent French naturalist, Georges-Louis Leclerc Buffon. Kołłątaj clearly proposed the in-depth actualistic study of geological processes as a key to Earth history, and, consequently, he in fact distinctly pioneered the methodological uniformitarianism approach of Charles Lyell, successfully developed in the 1830s.