Page - 72 - in Maximilian Hell (1720–92) - And the Ends of Jesuit Science in Enlightenment Europe

Chapter 172 as an outstanding administrator, was intended to play an important part in the ongoing overhaul of the economic foundations of the Austrian state. It is tempting to interpret the alleged delegation of relevant tasks to the young scion of experts with local knowledge in the mining district—who at the same time was a budding scientific genius—as a sign of selection with discerning eyes, and without any anti-Jesuit prejudice, on the part of the en- lightened government. It may even be the case that Jesuit patronage played a part: the many functions held by Hell’s teacher and mentor Franz at this time included Bergrath (i.e., senior official overseeing the mining industry). If all of this was indeed the case, Hell the “expert” had been discovered as an asset by the Viennese government well before his merits as a “scientist” were rewarded by the appointment of 1755, and the early discovery may even have played a part in the later appointment—while it must be added that a sharp distinction between expertise and science is meaningless in eighteenth-century contexts, as has been argued (significantly, given the contours of Hell’s lineage) on the example of Leibniz’s engagement of the problem of draining the Harz silver mines by relying on wind machines.103 Some caution regarding Hell’s association with the Königsegg family is justi- fied, though, as reports about it derive from accounts of Hell’s life and career conceived shortly after his death (i.e., several decades after the event). One of these accounts was conceived by a colleague working with him closely for many years. Unfortunately, neither of them is corroborated by any testimony by Hell himself, nor any archival documents in the otherwise rich and well- kept holdings of the Department of Mints and Mines in Vienna.104 In any case, according to these posterior reports, the tasks assigned to him included further courses in mathematics and Markscheidekunst, now to a group of ten young noblemen in preparation for work in the mining industry in Hungary, and even the translation of the laws of the mining industry from German into Latin.105 What exact purpose such a translation was to serve is not clear—but given that 103 The futility of Leibniz’s efforts to provide a “scientifically based” solution to the problem has been generally explained with reference to the resistance of “experts” in the Hanove- rian mining administration, but this is more likely to have emerged out of struggles in the state. See Andre Wakefield, “Leibniz and the Wind Machines,” Osiris 25 (2010): 171–88. 104 At the same time, these holdings contain ample references (even from the years of Maxi- milian’s supposed collaboration with Königsegg) to Hell’s father and brothers, the sub- jects ranging from the application of inventions through payment requests to inheritance issues. Österreichisches Staatsarchiv (ÖStA), Finanz- und Hofkammerarchiv, Neue Hofkammer, Akten Altes Münz- und Bergwesen, Chronologische Reihe, 1747–56. 105 See above, n. 101. The translation is only mentioned in the Nekrolog, where it is also claimed that the manuscript was delivered to Franz in 1749, but apparently was never published.