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Specialist Notes
Mairan attributed the phenomenon to an extension of the solar atmosphere, which sometimes enveloped the earth and mixed with our atmosphere. Wheeler Gift says, "The survey of the history and physics of the aurora borealis and the chapter on the relationship between the aurora and magnetic declination are of particular interest." The book contains many references to Newton, Cassini, Euler and Descartes. Illustrated with 15 plates containing astronomical maps and sketches of the aurora in different times and places. Jean Mairan, while basically a Cartesian, incorporated some Newtonian ideas into his theories. However, the scope of his interests extended beyond mathematics and astronomy, encompassing meteorology, biology and a variety of other disciplines.