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1. Concept and Christian background In the question of the relationship between human beings and nature, there are various positions, which depend on how the significance of human beings (Humankind) is assessed. The approach of anthropocentrism focuses on the perspective and interests of human beings, not uncommonly in the utilitarian form of a benefit relationship (Utilitarianism): nature was created for humankind and is therefore meaningful solely in proportion to its usefulness. Alternative models…

1. DefinitionThe fact that for most known species, reproduction of animal and vegetable life is anisogamous (by the fusion of different gametes) is described by the term dimorphism (or bimorphism). The concept relates to the binary structure of the living world, a structure that is also reflected in many other spheres, such as language. Wherever nature metaphors and analogies are in use, dimorphism is a widespread conceptual and presentational model, even in fields far beyond biology.At all periods, dimorphism as a conceptual figure has also been enlisted to account …

1. Cosmos and order“The Greeks have borrowed a name for the universe from ornament, on account of the variety of the elements and the beauty of the stars. For it is called among them  kosmos. … For with the eyes of the flesh we see nothing fairer than the universe.” (Isidore of Seville, De mundo 13,1; c. 600 CE). Likewise through the modern period and to the present, cosmology—the study of the cosmos (generally synonymous with “universe,” and also with “world” in its comprehensive sense)—has continued to be related not only to physics and astronom…

1. TerminologyThe term vermin (French  vermine, German  Ungeziefer) is attested since approximately 1300. The German term goes back to the 12th century, as the OHG root word  zebar became modern German  ziefer (animal). The German root may possibly have meant a sacrificial animal in the narrower sense, so that the double pejorative prefix  un- and  ge- might suggest animals not fit for sacrifice. Synonyms included  Geschmeiß (from MHG  smeiszen and  smîszen; modern Latin  cacare, “smear with dung”), which Martin Luther used figuratively in an anti-Jewish sense ( die Jüden …

1. Definition; history to 1700The term plant breeding denotes deliberate propagation and breeding of plants in order to improve desired traits. Increased yield, frequently by adapting to changing environmental conditions (Soil; Climate), greater nutritional value, and improved taste were primary goals for changing traits of agricultural crop plants in the early modern period, along with easier exploitability – thanks to better storage facilities, for instance, or aptitude for preservation – and greater (economic) returns. Ever since human beings became sedentary i…

1. Concept Miracles in all religions offer a way of explaining extraordinary events that run counter to everyday experience as the work of a deity, a holy person, a devil, demons, or spirits (Ghost; Devil, belief in; Demonology). The definition of the phenomenon blurs into that of magic, and boundaries are sometimes difficult to draw precisely. Miracles are performed either by the deity in person or through his or her “instruments,” meaning saints or people living saintly lives (e.g. distinguishing themselves by their asceticism), or by relics or holy places.In Greco-Roman an…

1. Concept and overviewFrom Antiquity until well into the early modern period, the idea of repetitive circular motion was a commonplace concept of the course of natural and social processes, both in Europe and in other cultures. It was regarded as the most perfect form of motion, and the circle and sphere as the most perfect geometrical bodies. At the same time, the concept was connected with the idea of eternal return, a revolution in its original sense, still colored by the ideas of Nikolaus Copernicus [3]; [15. 69–71]. The establishment of the heliocentric model in no way pre…

1. OverviewWater (German Wasser, French  eau) is a chemical compound of hydrogen and oxygen (H2O). In nature it can appear in all three states; usually, though, when we speak of water we are talking about the liquid state. So far, water in liquid form has been found in our solar system only on Earth, of which it covers a generous 70%. Water plays an outstanding role in human culture; the availability of water for general use and of drinking water (Water supply) is existential and an expression of our dependence on the natural world [5. 15–28] (on mineral water, see 4. below). It is th…

1. IntroductionZodiac (Greek “zōdiakos [ kyklos]”, literally “[circle] of zōdia,” i.e. small animal figures, cf.  zōdion; via Latin zodiacus) was already the term for the ring of constellations or “signs” along the ecliptic: Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius. In the geocentric model, these constellations divided the heavens’ orbit into twelve equal sections (Heaven), which in turn were grouped into four sections in reference to the quart…

1. Concept The word ‘fetish’ derives from the Portugues feitiço (“spell”, “amulet”), which in turn derives from the Latin facticius (“artificial”) and is related to  feitiçeiro (“sorcerer”) and  feitiçaria (“sorcery”). The term became established in Portugal from the Late Middle Ages, and subsequently enjoyed an astonishing career in the early modern period, through to Karl Marx’ “commodity fetishism” in the 19th century [5. 13 f.].Jörn Sieglerschmidt 2. Africa Feitiços were already mentioned in Portugal in the first edict against witches (1385), and the word …

1. Etymology and definitionThe Greek words for order ( kósmos, táxis, and thésis: cosmos, order, and arrangement) correspond to the Latin term  ordo, which was borrowed by most European languages. In early modern natural philosophy,  ordo was complemented by the term  scala (“stepladder”), a hierarchical order (Scala naturae). The Greek word  cháos (“gaping void”) denoting the still disordered primal state of the world likewise prevailed in the languages of Europe as the opposite of order. These terms were used in the early modern period (an…

1. Etymology and definitionThe word physiognomy (German Physiognomik, Middle English  fisnomy) is derived from Greek  physiognomonikḗ téchne; it means the art of perceiving the total nature of a person’s body from outward signs (literally “perception according to nature”). While physiognomics is more concerned with the narrower field of corporeal signs, physiognomy as it developed in the late Middle Ages and early modern period should be understood as a comprehensive theory of the correlation of all natural things. That said, there is no generally accepted usage even today.P…

1. Definition and overview Contingency and chance are concepts by which, since the dawn of history, people have sought to understand the world, especially the vicissitudes and shocks of life and natural phenomena. The two belong to the same field of meaning, with contingency denoting the fundamental openness or indeterminacy of human existence and its history. Chance, meanwhile, is invoked in specific circumstances, for instance to explain particular events.Historically speaking, the concept of chance has manifested itself in various guises that considerably exp…

1. Concept and forms A herbarium in the strict sense in the early modern period was a collection of dried specimens of plants and plant parts affixed to paper. Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, who wrote a guide to the preparation of dried plants in 1700, not long after Wilhelm Lauremberg and Moritz Hofmann, saw the advantage as being able to make observations regardless of season [1. 671].In a wider sense known since antiquity, the paintings, and later prints and colored illustrations and descriptions of plants were also considered part of the phenomenon. Coll…

1. Definition and etymologyThe natural philosopher Robert Boyle, concerned that the idea of nature as an active agent was infringing on that of the omnipotence of God, complained in his Free Inquiry into the Vulgarly Received Notion of Nature (1686) that “the generality of men, though they will acknowledge that nature is inferior and subordinate to God, do yet appear to regard her more than him” [32. 347, 350]. Paraphrasing Boyle, the chemist Johann von Löwenstern-Kunckel around 1700 derided the uncertainty of the word “nature” in use, while making a statement…

1. Definition Livestock are domesticated animals, as opposed to wild animals (which are also frequently of use to humans). The definition is often blurred. For example, all animals bred by humans for particular purposes could be called livestock, including not only worms, which are used in fishing, but also animals used in scientific experiments since the 18th century (Animal experimentation), or the many animals domesticated for human companionship.The term livestock is an anthropocentric one (Anthropocentrism), that is, it has meaning only in its reference…

1. IntroductionSince the dawn of human history, the heavens (Heaven) with the Sun and Moon (the governing celestial bodies of day and night) have in all cultures been a subject of mythological, symbolic, and scholarly reflection and imagination, and of intellectual curiosity. Religious rites in many of the world’s cultures also refer to the heavens to this day [21. 9–135]. In the astronomical lore of the early cultures, observing the skies yielded the practical knowledge of (and ability to forecast) the paths of the Sun, Moon, and stars; in Christi…

1. DefinitionIn many cultures since antiquity, avoidance of meat consumption has been recognized as a form of theriophily (empathic consideration for animals; see fig. 1) and has occasionally been promoted as a religious or dietary rule (Naturopathy). This avoidance has been extended occasionally to include the use of animal products, for example, for apparel. In early modern Europe, however, it is rare to find evidence for rejection of the use of all animal products (veganism, lacto-ovo-vegetari…

1. Definition and introductionThroughout human history, the stars have been a point of orientation, both literally and figuratively speaking. They were needed for the mathematical calculation of the religious festival calendar and holidays, as well as being an awe-inspiring wonder of nature and – in the form of constellations along the annual ecliptic (Zodiac) – a means of interpreting the present and future. At night, they served navigation. In all cultures, therefore, the sky and celestial phenom…

1. Definition and overview The control of fire is a cultural technique that, unlike the use of hands, language, tools, or communication, which are also available to animals, is unique to humans. It is thus unsurprising that fire holds a position of some importance in the mythological and philosophical systems of all cultures [7. 11]. In the tradition of European thought, fire was one of the four elements of which all things of the sublunar world (beneath the first planetary sphere) were composed. Called into question in the 17th century by Robert …