Scarce lecture on the 1883 eruption of the Krakatoa in Indonesia, which was the deadliest and most destructive volcanic event in recorded history. As it had taken place in a Dutch overseas territory, the event was primarily researched by Dutch scientists. The present lecture, delivered shortly after for the Indological Society in Delft, was written and published by Cornelis de Groot (1817-1896), a mining engineer in Buitenzorg, who was partly responsible for the founding of the Dutch Biliton Maatschappij, a company that mined tin and ore in the former Dutch East Indies. De Groot was also a senior member of the Geological Survey of the Dutch East Indies.
The Krakatao volcano, located on Rakata Island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, first became active in May 1883, after having been dormant for over two centuries. As the present lecture describes, the eruption continued for four months, with the explosions gradually increasing in strength until, on August 26 and 27, they culminated in four immense blasts. The final explosion, which created what is thought to be the loudest sound in history, is estimated to have had a force equivalent to 100.000 hydrogen bombs. The sound was heard 4800 km away on the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius, and 3100 km away in Perth, Western Australia. The acoustic pressure wave circled the globe three and a half times. More than 36000 people lost their lives as a result of the tsunamis that followed in the wake of the eruption. Twenty cubic kilometres of ash were erupted some thirty kilometres into the atmosphere, creating spectacular "blue suns" and "orange moons" in Europe and North America. For several years after the eruption, the global temperature dropped by at least one degree Celsius.
With the lower half of the round blindstamp of Martien le Comte on the back free flyleaf. The corners of the boards are lightly scuffed, the spine is discoloured. Otherwise in good condition. WorldCat 69409561 (9 copies).