My article on Leibniz and geography is published in the new issue of Geographica Helvetica. The journal is subscription only for the first year but I can send a copy of the article if you ask.

Leibniz and geography: geologist, paleontologist, biologist, historian, political theorist and geopolitician

S. Elden
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, UK

Abstract. This article discusses the way that the German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716) made a number of significant contributions to geography. In outlining his contributions as a geologist, palaeontologist, biologist, historian, political theorist and geopolitician, it challenges the straightforward way he is read in geography. Particular focus is on his Protogaea, the Annales Imperii and the Consilium Aegyptiacum, respectively a pre-history of the earth, a chronology of German nobility in the Middle Ages, and a military-strategic proposal to King Louis XIV. Making use of contemporary debates about ways of reading Leibniz, and drawing on a wide range of his writings, the article indicates just how much remains to be discovered about his work.

Citation: Elden, S.: Leibniz and geography: geologist, paleontologist, biologist, historian, political theorist and geopolitician, Geogr. Helv., 68, 81-93, doi:10.5194/gh-68-81-2013, 2013.