Fr. Dannemann. How Did Our Picture of the World Arise? (Kosmos). Stuttgart, 1912

The remarks on Fr. Dannemann’s book “Wie unser Weltbild entstand” (Kosmos). Stuttgart, 1912 [F. Dannemann, How Did Our Picture of the World Arise (Cosmos), Stuttgart, 1912] were written by Lenin in a notebook preceding the conspectus of G. Noël’s Hegel’s Logic. Note that this document has undergone special formating to ensure that Lenin’s sidenotes fit on the page, marking as best as possible where they were located in the original manuscript.

(Nat. XII. 456)

In this pamphlet the author gives a kind of summary of his four-volume work: “Naturwissenschaf- ten in ihrer Entwicklung und in ihrem Zusammenhange”...

About 5,000 years of the development of civilisation from ancient Egypt to our time. According to Homer, the world was

only the Mediterranean Sea and surround- ing countries. (P. 8)

In Egypt the clear nights facilitated the pursuit of astronomy. They observed the stars and their movement, the moon, etc.

At first the month was reckoned as 30 days, and the year as 360 (p. 31). The an- cient Egyptians already had 365 days. (P. 32) Eratosthenes (276 B.C.) determined the circumference of the earth as 250,000 “stadia” = 45,000 km. (instead of 40,000).

Aristarchus guessed that the earth re- volved round the sun, p. 37 (1,800 years before Copernicus, 1473-1543). (Third cen- tury B.C.) he considered the moon to be 3 0 (instead of 48) times smaller than the earth, and the sun to be 300 (instead of 1,300,000) times larger than the earth....

Ptolemy’s system (second century A.D.) fifteenth century: the revival of astronomy—con- nection with navigation.

Copernicus (1473-1543): heliocentric system. Circles (not ellipses).

((Only in the middle of the nineteenth century im- proved measuring instru ments showed alteration in the appearance of the fixed stars))

Galileo—(1564-1642). Kepler—(1571-1630). Newton—(1643-1727).

Pythagoras (sixth centu- ry B.C.) the world is gov- erned by number: and mea- sure....

The four elements, sub- stances, of the ancient phi- losophers: earth, fire, water, air....

Democritus (fifth centu- ry B.C.): atoms... seventeenth century: chemical elements.

Spectral analysis (1860) Electricity, etc. Law of conservation of force.