Subterranean World Illustration, Athanasius Kircher, Mundus Subterraneus, 1668

System of subterranean fires from Mundus Subterraneus. Athanasius Kircher, S.J. (sometimes erroneously spelled Kirchner; Latin: Athanasius Kircherus, 2 May 1602 – 28 November 1680) was a German Jesuit scholar and polymath who published around 40 major works, most notably in the fields of comparative religion, geology, and medicine. Kircher has been compared to fellow Jesuit Roger Boscovich and to Leonardo da Vinci for his enormous range of interests, and has been honored with the title "Master of a Hundred Arts".He taught for more than forty years at the Roman College, where he set up a wunderkammer. A resurgence of interest in Kircher has occurred within the scholarly community in recent decades. Mundus subterraneus, quo universae denique naturae divitiae is a scientific textbook written by Athanasius Kircher, and published in 1665. The work depicts Earth's geography through textual description, as well as lavish illustrations.