Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli magyar vonatkozású földtudományi tevékenységének áttekintése

The first part of the study describes the dual (military and scientific) links of Marsigli’s life and oeuvre, followed by the chronological overview of Marsigli’s activities in earth science and a tracing of the sources of his natural (and earth) science knowledge. Next, it outlines the research history of Marsigli’s Hungary-related earth science activities, the chronology of his stay in Hungary, and the timing of his earth science observations during that period. Focusing on Marsigli’s reseach style, the role of i) information received from local experts and ii) collected on site, iii) on-site observations and experiments, iv) observations on collected/received specimens, as well as v) laboratory experiments and vi) drawing/mapping in the creation 3rd volume of the Danubius is discussed. In connection with the description of the structure of the third (“earth science”) volume of the Danubius, the changes that occurred compared to the Prodromus published 26 years before are recorded. The geological information contained in the work is reviewed according to the style of its communication: topographic mineralogical contributions presented in a systematic framework, summaries about the river sediments, the location and products of the mines, and the structure of the mountains and ore veins, and finally Marsigli’s general theory of the origin of metals (ores) in comparison with Aristotelian and Cartesian theories and their contemporary interpretations in Hungary.