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69The
Making of a Jesuit Astronomer in the Habsburg Provinces
Physica Particularis (Introductions to physics: Part 1, general physics; Part 2,
parts of physics [1752–53]) was the first to introduce Newtonianism in a phys-
ics textbook in the Habsburg lands, and was an important source (among
many others) of the Graz professor Leopold Gottlieb Biwald’s (1731–1805)
Physica generalis and Physica particularis (General physics; Parts of physics
[1767–68]), which, in turn, were influential across Europe.93 Scherffer also re-
mained very active in the Viennese astronomical community during Hell’s
tenure as imperial and royal astronomer, chiefly on the theoretical side, as
demonstrated by his Institutiones astronomiae theoreticae (Introductions to
theoretical astronomy [1777]).94
In 1745, Hell had his first (anonymous) work published. The Elementa arith-
meticae numericae et literalis, exposita a Joanne Crivellio (Elements of numeri-
cal and literal arithmetics, explained by Joannes Crivelli) is the “third, correct-
ed” edition of a textbook by the Venetian mathematician and priest Giovanni
Francesco Crivelli (1690–1743), originally published in Italian in 1728 and then
in Latin in 1740. In some of the literature on Hell, this volume is referred to by
the title Elementa algebrae Joannis Crivelli magis illustrata et novis demonstra-
tionibus et problematibus aucta (Elements of algebra by Joannes Crivelli, illus-
trated and expanded by new demonstrations and problems), and it is claimed
that the “further explanations and expansions by new demonstrations and ex-
ercises” indicated in the title were considerable.95 In the copy available to us
(bearing the former title), this cannot be ascertained. Hell took the previous
Latin edition of 1740 and—according to his short addition to the editorial
preface—confined himself to “emending dubious Latin phrases by supplant-
ing them with new ones that are both clearer and especially accommodated to
93 Cornelia Faustmann, “‘In parte physicae theoretica Newtonum eiusque commentators
secutus sum’: Leopold Gottlieb Biwald’s Physica generalis as a Compendium Propagating
Newtonian Physics in Europe,” in The Circulation of Science and Technology: Proceedings of
the 4th International Conference of the eshs in Barcelona, 18–20 November 2010, ed. Antoni
Roca-Rosell (Barcelona: schct-iec, 2012), 349–54, and Faustmann, “Physik des 18. Jahr-
hunderts im Spiegel der Quellen” (PhD diss., University of Vienna, 2010).
94 It is noteworthy that while this work contains many references to great contemporary
astronomers like Lalande, Lacaille, Halley, Boscovich, and so forth, none of Scherffer’s
peers in Vienna are acknowledged. Despite treating topics in which Hell ought to be con-
sidered an expert, he makes no reference to him: when mentioning, for instance, the so-
called satellite of Venus, he presents in brief the same explanation as Hell had used in his
treatment of the subject, but without any reference. Karl Scherffer, Institutiones astrono-
miae theoreticae (Vienna: Trattner, 1777), 8. Similarly, while a brief section is devoted to
“De transitu Veneris, vel Mercurii infra discum Solis,” he only quotes Lalande as an author-
ity. Scherffer, Institutiones astronomiae theoreticae, 391.
95 Pinsker, “Der Astronom,” 103–4. Elementa algebrae is also the title mentioned in Sommer-
vogel, “Hell,” 250.
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book Maximilian Hell (1720–92) - And the Ends of Jesuit Science in Enlightenment Europe"
Maximilian Hell (1720–92)
And the Ends of Jesuit Science in Enlightenment Europe
- Title
- Maximilian Hell (1720–92)
- Subtitle
- And the Ends of Jesuit Science in Enlightenment Europe
- Authors
- Per Pippin Aspaas
- László Kontler
- Publisher
- Brill
- Location
- Leiden
- Date
- 2020
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-90-04-41683-3
- Size
- 15.5 x 24.1 cm
- Pages
- 492
- Categories
- Naturwissenschaften Physik
Table of contents
- Acknowledgments VII
- List of Illustrations IX
- Bibliographic Abbreviations X
- Introduction 1
- 1 Shafts and Stars, Crafts and Sciences: The Making of a Jesuit Astronomer in the Habsburg Provinces 37
- 2 Metropolitan Lures: Enlightened and Jesuit Networks, and a New Node of Science 91
- 3 A New Node of Science in Action: The 1761 Transit of Venus and Hell’s Transition to Fame 134
- 4 The North Beckons: “A desperate voyage by desperate persons” 172
- 5 He Came, He Saw, He Conquered? The Expeditio litteraria ad Polum Arcticum 209
- 6 “Tahiti and Vardø will be the two columns […]”: Observing Venus andDebating the Parallax 258
- 7 Disruption of Old Structures 305
- 8 Coping with Enlightenments 344
- Appendix 1 Map of the Austrian Province of the Society of Jesus (with Glossary of Geographic Names) 394
- Appendix 2 Instruction for the Imperial and Royal Astronomer Maximilian Hell, S.J 398
- Bibliography 400
- Index 459