This paper is a paraphrased summary of the book published in Finnish on the 100th anniversary of the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory in 2013 (edited by Heikki Nevanlinna, 2017). The history of the Geophysical Observatory in Sodankylä (SGO) is described by the personalities who have run it and have shaped the observatory. Thereafter, we describe the history from a technical point of view, i.e., what the measurements were and which instruments were primarily used at the observatory.

This paper studies the early history of geomagnetism (i.e., history before World War II). At that time, the problem of whether the start time of a magnetic storm was simultaneous or not all over the world was discussed. International and domestic research activities of Aikitu Tanakadate, a Japanese geoscientist, were studied by investigating his personal letters concerning with this problem. We will present a hypothesis on the first discoverer of this problem.

At the beginning of the 19th century, meteor observations were not well established. One of its pioneers, who observed meteors on a regular basis, was Eduard Heis in Münster, Germany. We summarise the life of this scientist. Besides his main task of teaching mathematics in Aachen and Münster, he observed atmospheric phenomena and variable stars with exceptional perseverance. We focus on his contributions to meteor astronomy, with which he predated the work of Schiaparelli by 30 years.

The Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic has been running the National Cultural Identity programme. There is a rich history of surveying in Bohemia and the tradition of production of surveying instruments. That is why we won a project focused on devices used in Bohemia from the 16th to the end of the 20th century. To date, more than 200 instruments from 32 European manufacturers have been documented. Information about the instruments will be available at www.surveyinginstruments.org.

The study brings the first comprehensively processed historical–geographical work dealing with one of the oldest places of commercial copper production using cementation in Europe – Smolník (Upper Hungary; present day Slovakia). Its relevance lies not only in professional circles but also for the needs of the general public (e.g. mining tourism). The study contributes to the preservation of a forgotten and unknown mining heritage in one of the most important mining towns in former Upper Hungary.

Research on rock strain done during part of the 19th century has a level of scientific quality that is not usually acknowledged. The objective of this paper is to put these older papers in perspective, highlighting the careful field observations of these early researchers, the focus they made on the study of deformed objects, and how they gave birth to the fundamental equations and basic concepts that we use today to calculate rock strain.

We present a tribute to Georg Friedrich Karl Hartung (1821–1891), a German geologist, on his 200th birthday. He was influenced by eminent 19th century scientific personalities and pioneered geological observations and sampling in the Azores, Madeira, and Canary Islands volcanic archipelagos. Later in his life, he travelled to the USA and explored Scandinavia. His work in Macaronesia is deemed classic, and many have been enriched by his detailed geological illustrations.