- Philosophical Reviews in German Territories (1668-1799)
- Edited by Marco Sgarbi
Knowledge in Motion: The Circulation of Maupertuis’s Discours sur les différentes figures des astres (1732) between Switzerland and Germany
- Marco Storni
- © 2025 Author(s) |
- CC BY 4.0
- DOI: 10.36253/979-12-215-0573-3.04
This paper explores the circulation of philosophical ideas in the early modern period by examining the elaboration and reception of Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis’s Discours sur les différentes figures des astres (1732), widely regarded as the first Newtonian treatise ever published in France. Drawing on insights from cultural history, I argue that the circulation of knowledge was not only an intellectual process, but also involved practical and material factors. In particular, I emphasise the role of personal networks, such as that of Johann Bernoulli, in facilitating the dissemination of scientific and philosophical books across Europe. The paper also highlights the importance of reviews as a medium for engaging with new knowledge, influencing debates, and extending intellectual controversies beyond national borders. The example of Christian Wolff’s review of the Discours published in the Nova Acta Eruditorum in 1733 is used to illustrate the potential of reviews to “territorialise” – in Wolff’s case, “Germanise” – a foreign natural-philosophical debate.
- Keywords:
- circulation of knowledge,
- Newtonianism,
- Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis,
- Johann Bernoulli,
- Christian Wolff,
- philosophical reviews.,
Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium - ORCID: 0000-0003-2500-7607
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Chapter Information
Chapter Title
Knowledge in Motion: The Circulation of Maupertuis’s Discours sur les différentes figures des astres (1732) between Switzerland and Germany
Authors
Marco Storni
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0573-3.04
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Bibliographic Information
Book Title
Philosophical Reviews in German Territories (1668-1799)
Book Subtitle
Volume 1
Editors
Marco Sgarbi
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
162
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0573-3
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0572-6
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0573-3
eISBN (epub)
979-12-215-0574-0
Series Title
Knowledge and its Histories